I Think I
by TooDarnLazy
Summary: Sasuke is brought back to Konoha after an unsuccessful clash with Itachi, where he is faced with the choice of rotting in prison where his seed will be taken from him to produce Sharingan babies, or... marry the dobe. Nonyaoi, FemNaru.
1. Chapter 1  A Proposal

**Warnings:** Female Naruto, NaruSasu SasuNaru, author's longwindedness and limited vocabulary, probably clichéd ideas, occasional sappiness and WAFF, lousy description of fight scenes, inconsistent chapter sizes, erratic and sporadic updates, author laziness (read the name!), Japanese words used for jutsu, nicknames and stuff (might include a glossary at the end of a chapter depending on laziness level), a bit of Sakura-bashing, probable OOC-ness, though I try my best to keep 'em in character, possible spoilers, and did I mention longwindedness?

**Note:** It was supposed to be a light, funny romance, but the humour ran away and the angst couldn't keep out of it... Rating might go up, depends if I decide to write... stuff that makes ratings go up. I will try my best to keep the story in line with what's happening in the manga - I had already written the chapter where Naruto's origins are revealed, then Kishimoto-sensei dropped the bomb, so I had to go back and modify the names :-)

**Disclaimer: **Kishimoto-sensei is doing a superb job with Naruto. I couldn't have possibly come up with all his cool characters, wonderful conspiracies and kick-ass fights.

U/L: 12th October 2007.

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**I Think I **

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 1 – A Proposal**

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Sasuke stared angrily at the white ceiling. He was back in Konoha, dragged back there by the dobe. The very thought of it made him grind his teeth, especially when Itachi was still alive. 

He had killed Orochimaru, that bastard, when he had tried to transfer into Sasuke's body. The Uchiha sneered mentally – as if he'd ever allow anyone to take over his body. Orochimaru was a first-class idiot to have believed that Sasuke would actually give up his body for power.

After disposing of the snake, he had searched for the perfect opportunity to kill Itachi for almost three years. Itachi was slippery – he was hard to find, and the few times Sasuke did see him, Itachi was either with his partner, or would disappear quickly. Finally, he managed to find his brother at the Konoha-Suna border.

Itachi had been alone at the time. Sasuke had attacked quickly and brutally, and was pleased to note he had grown stronger under Orochimaru's tutelage. He had managed to land a few hits on his aniki, but Itachi had distracted him, then tried to use Tsukiyomi on him, but this time Sasuke's own Sharingan had matured enough for him to fight back, although the result of him trying to keep out of Tsukiyomi had been very draining to his chakra. Before he collapsed, though, he had slashed a satisfyingly deep cut through the front of Itachi's torso that would take a long time to heal, and would definitely leave a scar to remind the older Uchiha of his brother.

His brother's blue-skinned partner had appeared a few minutes after both the Uchiha had collapsed. The shark-man had quickly assessed the situation, picked up Itachi carefully, and vanished from sight, leaving Sasuke in a heap on the somewhat sandy ground. It took a lot of effort on Sasuke's part to remain conscious after the Akatsuki duo left, to guard against any sneak retaliation.

Just as he was about to black out, he heard a voice, one he hadn't heard in nearly six years, shouting loudly, and an orange-clad figure came crashing into view. Bright blonde hair, whisker-scarred cheeks and crystal-blue eyes, the likes of which he had never seen in anyone else, appeared in his shrinking vision range, and he watched the somewhat familiar yet different features look down at him with concern etched into them, and he blacked out.

And when he woke up, he found himself staring at the ceiling unable to move his limbs due to chakra restraints. Looking at the table under the window to his right, he could see two small transparent glass vases. Both vases held a single flower each in varying states of freshness. The vase on the right held a fresh daffodil and the other vase had a thoroughly wilted wildflower – a flower that one could sometimes see growing in fields or by the side of the road. He wondered who they were from. He knew the fresh one was probably from Sakura, but he couldn't figure out who the wilted flower might be from. It couldn't be just another fangirl – they probably didn't have high enough security clearance to visit him, let alone know that he was back.

The sound of the door sliding open caught his attention, but he kept his eyes on the flowers. A powerful chakra signature entered, followed by two weaker ones. He could recognize the weakest one to be Sakura, although he hadn't come into contact with her since the pathetic 'rescue' attempt at Kusa no Kuni. Judging by the chakra signature alone, he could tell that she had grown.

"Uchiha Sasuke," stated a terse voice. A spike of chakra, and he could feel the chakra restraints dissolved. Slowly, he turned towards the voice.

Renowned medic nin and Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade, stood there with Sakura and a dark brown haired lady flanking her. He refused to look at Sakura, and focused his eyes on the blonde lady, who didn't look any older than what he remembered. The Hokage's face was serious, with a very slight curl of her upper lip.

"Your body has healed fine; no debilitating injuries were observed when you were first brought in eleven days ago. You will be discharged today, but Morino Ibiki has a few questions to ask. Get dressed, and the ANBU outside your door will escort you to the Torture and Interrogation Unit building," Tsunade said. She then whirled and said to Sakura, "You have five minutes," and left with the other woman.

Sasuke looked to the ceiling again. The name Morino Ibiki was vaguely familiar, and an image of a big, tall man wearing a black trench coat floated into his vision. That was it – Morino had been the first examiner of the chuunin exams all those years ago.

A soft cough disturbed his thoughts, but he still refused to look at the kunoichi standing beside his bed.

Undaunted, Sakura moved to the table by the window and took out the daffodil, replacing it with one she had brought with her. With a small smile she said, "I'm glad you're better, Sasuke-kun. I've been checking up on you almost every day, when my schedule allows me to."

Sasuke noted the lack of the usual whiny and simpering tone, and wondered (and hoped) she had lost the silly infatuation.

"Naruto..." she continued hesitantly as her fingers absently played with the flower she had just removed, and Sasuke tensed a little at that name, "Naruto came only once after he brought you back. He said he's found you at the Suna-Konoha border when he was returning from Suna with Jiraiya-sama. Then he didn't come again. I'm a little worried about him... I haven't seen him after the day he came to visit you."

She finished playing with the flower and turned to Sasuke, a little hurt that he wouldn't look at her. Pushing back her disappointment, she gave him a small smile and said, "Well. I have to go – I'm about due back from my break. You clothes are in the drawer on your left – someone cleaned and repaired them, and left them there. Don't know who."

The medic nin's smile left her face and she walked to the door, where she paused and turned to look over her shoulder. "I'm glad you're back, Sasuke-kun. I'm sure Naruto is, too." Then she quietly left.

Xx

Xx

Naruto sat hugging his knees as the wind blew his bright yellow hair into a mess. He had grown it out over time, the excuse being that it was easier to do hari jizo, and now it reached his shoulders. His hitai-ate kept his bangs out of his eyes, and he had given thought to tying up his hair like Iruka-sensei and Shikamaru. He was sitting at his favourite place to be alone and think – on top of the Yondaime's head on the Hokage Monument. He loved sitting on his hero's head, and he could see Konoha stretched out below him. It was early evening, and lights were starting to blink here and there in the village.

The blonde's thoughts turned toward the traitor he had carried back all the way from the Suna-Konoha border. Tsunade-obaachan had informed him that the Uchiha would be interrogated. He couldn't say anything to that – it was standard procedure, and Sasuke had run of to _the_ arch-enemy of Konoha, after all.

He didn't really know what to think of it all just yet – which was why he had only visited his former teammate once the day after he was brought back. He had washed and patched up Sasuke's clothes to the best of his ability, which wasn't too shabby, since Iruka-sensei had insisted (read: threatened) that he learned to sew properly, among other skills the man thought necessary. His excuses were mission reports and debriefs, and minor missions he had been assigned (more like asked for) after that first day. And he hadn't bothered to replace the wildflower he brought during his first visit.

It was the fifth day since Sasuke had been taken to the Torture and Interrogation Unit. Naruto knew that the interrogation had actually ended three days earlier, since the former traitor had told them pretty much most of what had happened to him, and what he left out Ino, who had joined T&I, had dug out of his memory. Sasuke had been uncharacteristically forthcoming with answers that they didn't have to resort to their other specialty (torture) on him. He probably didn't give a damn about the information he was giving them, except when it came to his abilities and Uchiha Itachi. Then he had been a little reluctant, but he didn't put up much resistance once Ino got to work. Naruto pondered about that.

Tsunade-obaachan had briefed him on their findings. She had been shocked to learn that Sasuke killed Orochimaru. Naruto had been shocked at first, but then he realized that this was Uchiha Sasuke – a powerful shinobi. Plus, Orochimaru had been at his weakest point due to the urgency for the body transfer to occur. Heh. Sasuke wasn't so great after all – he was just lucky that the Hebi Teme had been weak.

A small pigeon circled above his head and landed on his foot, and cooed at him. Naruto gave the pigeon a tiny smile and detached the slip of paper placed in a small holder on the bird's leg. He read the note from Tsunade-obaachan as he stroked the pigeon's back with the other hand.

The note was a simple summons for him to meet her now. There was no explanation as to the reason for the meeting, but the word 'now' was underlined three times. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, and then realized that the rest of the note was written with harsh strokes. He wondered what the old lady was pissed about this time. She had been rather furious when he had showed up after a year-long goodwill mission to Suna with a bloody Sasuke on his back and a seemingly nonchalant Jiraiya in tow. Then two days ago something or someone had angered her enough for her to throw both her chair and pieces of her shattered desk out the window. She had also drunk herself into a stupor after that, although only a select few knew about it.

A small sigh escaped him as he stood up, causing the pigeon to squawk and fly off indignantly. He stretched his arms skyward and yawned a jaw-cracking yawn, then formed the seals for shunshin no jutsu. A burst of chakra later found him in front of the Hokage's office, and the two ANBU members posted outside the door let him in as he greeted them enthusiastically, although there was slight apprehension curling in his belly.

"Tsunade-obaachan!" he said loudly, grinning as he dodged a scroll she threw at him for calling her that. It was their little tradition. "What's so important you have to meet me now, huh? Why couldn't it wait..." he trailed off as he saw the tight look on the Hokage's face, and Jiraiya looking uncharacteristically serious as he stood leaning against the large window with his arms crossed.

"Tsunade-obaachan...?"

"Uzumaki Keimei Naruto," began Tsunade, and immediately the younger blonde stiffened and a deep frown crossed his face.

"Tsunade-obaachan!" he started, but stopped as she waved authoritatively at him, then gestured for him to have a seat in front of her new desk. The little curl of apprehension he had earlier expanded into a flame and his features became serious as he waited for her to continue. "This is about Sasuke, isn't it?" he asked, all playfulness dropped.

The Hokage looked at him with what he interpreted as guilt and sorrow in her eyes. "Uzumaki Keimei Naruto," she repeated, disregarding the displeased look on the other's face, "I am happy to tell you that the Council is willing to pardon Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "At what price?"

Tsunade smiled a little inwardly – she knew Naruto was no longer as dense or idiotic as he still pretended to be. "Uchiha Sasuke has to marry someone to prove his loyalty to Konohagakure no Sato."

The blonde in front of her folded his arms. "As grateful as I am to be informed of matters regarding the Uchiha, what does him marrying anyone have to do with me? I assume it has something to do with me, based on your tone of voice."

Jiraiya snorted where he was standing, and Tsunade became distinctly uncomfortable – something she wouldn't show to anyone other than Shizune, Sakura, Jiraiya and Naruto.

"The Council has decided... that _you_ are to marry Uchiha."

A few seconds, then...

"NANI!" Naruto jumped out of his chair in anger and slammed his fists onto the table. "This is a joke, isn't it? Please tell me this is a joke? Please?"

Tsunade almost quailed at the way his voice turned pleading by the last word. "I'm sorry, Keimei, but it's no joke."

Naruto sank back into his chair in a daze. "You called me by that name... you're serious, aren't you? Does this mean that you're going to reveal my secret? Everyone's going to know that I'm actually a girl?" He, or rather, she, gripped the armrests of her chair tightly.

"Not immediately, Keimei. It's your secret, so it's up to you to reveal it when you are ready, but I will have to reveal it for you if you take too long."

"...Why me?"

"Damn the Council. They knew that Sarutobi-sensei had put the genjutsu on you all those years ago. They want the Uchiha line to continue, and they want to make sure the offspring are _viable_," here Tsunade sneered and made air quotes with her fingers as Jiraiya snorted again, "so they want a strong female to bear the Uchiha children. Plus, they think it's added incentive for the Uchiha to remain loyal to Konoha, because of two factors: your fierce loyalty to Konoha, which they hope will rub off on him, and the interest Akatsuki have in you."

"They want me to produce Uchiha babies and act as bait for Itachi?" Naruto asked incredulously, her eyebrows shooting up.

Jiraiya decided to contribute to the conversation. "Those geezers... they don't care what happens to Naruto, as long as they keep Uchiha happy enough to produce Sharingan babies for them. I bet the whole part about 'strong females to bear Uchiha children' was purest crap. Anything for the Uchiha, as long as he remains loyal to the village."

Tsunade sighed and massaged her temples. "It's... true. They also demand that Uchiha be given special training with Kakashi, or any instructor he asks for, actually, to mollify him and prepare him to fight Itachi, then he must be allowed a certain time period in which he's allowed to dangle you as bait and finish off Itachi. And they dared to insinuate that if you'd be somehow killed in the process, all the better."

"All this so that Sasuke stays in Konoha... they really love him, don't they?" Naruto said softly with downcast eyes. "Of course – who wouldn't jump at the chance of getting rid of the Kyuubi no gaki?" The last part was added in a whisper, but the two Sannin caught it anyway, and Tsunade's heart constricted painfully as she looked at the blonde girl henge-d as a boy before her. No, she couldn't really be called a girl anymore since she would be turning eighteen this year. A young woman on the brink of adulthood, who for safety purposes, had had to masquerade as a male from the time she was a child, since many of the people of Konoha were close-minded idiots with misplaced hate since they couldn't differentiate between the Kyuubi and the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki.

"But why do I have to _marry_ the teme? I'm good enough bait no matter what my position is," Naruto said, bleakness lacing her tone.

"Because, as his _wife_," Tsunade spat out the word, "he would have the authority to order you around, to a certain extent. Plus they want healthy Uchiha babies."

"Sou ka..." Naruto replied softly. Then in a stronger voice, she asked, "What if I say no?"

Here Tsunade looked downright murderous, and Jiraiya's expression was not too different. "The Council implied rather forcefully that you will never be considered as a Hokage candidate if you refuse. And unfortunately, the Council does have a major say in appointing a Hokage."

Naruto's face took on a defeated look. "...I see."

Tsunade hated that look on Naruto's face. It was so out of place on a face she had come to associate with shit-eating grins and mischievous smiles, even though she knew that most of the smiles were part of Naruto's mask.

"Uzumaki Keimei Naruto, what are your feelings toward Uchiha? If you don't want to do this, even if you have the slightest reservation or hesitation about it, let me know. I'll call it off, Council and Uchiha be damned," she said fiercely. Naruto was quiet for a few moments, but Tsunade could see she was tense by the way she gripped the armrests of her chair.

"Sasuke's my friend... he's one of my precious people," began Naruto, but Jiraiya cut her off.

"I know about your stand as a ninja – to protect your precious people, but Naruto, sometimes you have to think about yourself! Could you live with Uchiha for the rest of your life if you had to? Is he really worth it?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment after the Gama-Sennin's outburst, then she answered uncertainly, "I know that, Ero-Sennin... but Sasuke is important to me. But I don't know if I lov...like him _that_ way or not... Tsunade-sama, could I have time to think about it? Please?"

Tsunade and Jiraiya could tell the young woman was being extra-serious when she called the Hokage Tsunade-sama instead of her usual nickname. Tsunade felt sorrow and anger rise in her as she looked at the whisker-marked face and sad eyes in front of her, already missing the sparkle usually always present in the sky-blue eyes.

"Of course, Naruto. But I unfortunately have to answer the Council two days from now, and I still have to inform Uchiha of the situation... which I will do only if you agree to it."

Naruto stood up shakily, as did Tsunade. "I understand, Tsunade-sama. I'll let you have the answer by six in the evening tomorrow."

Tsunade impulsively reached over her desk and gently brushed blonde locks out of Naruto's cerulean blue eyes.

"Don't feel pressured into agreeing, Naruto. Don't worry about the Council or Uchiha, damn them. I don't care – the Council will have to find another way of convincing the Uchiha to stay if you disagree. I'm not going to force you to do this if you don't want to," Tsunade said as she patted the blonde head in front of her gently. Naruto leaned faintly into the touch, then nodded.

With a weak smile she said, "By six tomorrow, then. I need to go – I've a lot to think about. Oyasumi, Tsunade-obaachan, Ero-Sennin." Naruto gave them a half-hearted wave and disappeared outside the door.

Immediately, Tsunade collapsed into her chair and produced two sakes saucers and a bottle of the liquor. Jiraiya took the bottle out of her hands and poured one saucer for her and one for himself, noting that it was the strongest sake Tsunade had in stock. The Hokage tossed back the sake quickly and poured herself another round.

"She's going to agree, I can tell," Jiraiya stated morosely as he helped himself to the bottle. He took a sip and continued, "She cares too much about Uchiha. All that three years of training just to get the traitor back. And now that she could be the key to him staying in the village, she'd definitely agree to the Council's plan. Damn the Council for exploiting her loyalty to Konoha and her feelings for Uchiha."

Tsunade took a few gulps from the bottle, her saucer ignored on the desk as she tried to alleviate the forming headache. "You think she's in love with Uchiha, then?"

"Probably. Probably doesn't realize it herself, either."

"Mm-hmm."

"Damn those two geezers," swore Jiraiya again.

Tsunade set the bottle down and the white-haired man grabbed it. "I shud have reformed the Council yearsh ago when I started this job," Tsunade said, starting to slur slightly. "They got too mush poweh, and the Hokage ish jush a puppet. Affer the Uchiha thing is cleared up, that's the firssh thing I'm gonna do."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement, and the two quietly finished the bottle of sake between them.

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Keimei is one of the Japanese words for dawn. Of the few words having the same meaning, I chose this coz it seems the most name-like. 

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated. :-)


	2. Chapter 2  The Answer

U/L: 12th October 2007.

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**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 2 - The Answer**

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Naruto heard the rustling of the flap behind her, and sensed a chakra signature that was well-known to her, but remained listlessly as she was.

"Yo!" Kakashi's voice stated from behind her.

Naruto just kept swirling the noodles round and round in the bowl using her chopsticks. Her head was propped up on the hand not holding the chopsticks, which rested on the counter. The silver-haired jounin settled into the stool on her left, and mirrored her pose, with his head in his right hand.

The blonde stared at the ramen bowl for a few more moments before asking, "How far would you go for a friend, Kakashi-sensei?"

The jounin was immediately wary as he noted how serious his former student sounded, in addition to the disinterest in ramen. "You know my views on friends, Naruto. Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those..."

"Who abandon their friends are worse than trash," Naruto finished, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "I remember that well, Kakashi-sensei. But how far would you go for a friend, Kakashi-sensei? Especially one who doesn't seem to appreciate what you do for them. And now you've been offered a way to make sure that friend is ...safe, but possibly at the cost of your dream?"

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at Naruto, then straightened up. He rested both his elbows on the counter and his chin on his folded hands.

"How important is this friend to me? Is this 'safety' what the friend really wants? Does the friend even realize what he really wants? Will I be able to live with the consequences of my choice, even if my friend ends up 'safe'?" Kakashi mused aloud.

"Huh?"

"That's what I would ask myself," explained Kakashi. "Although, if that friend was extremely important to me, which answers the first question, I guess I'd overlook the other questions. Except maybe the last one. I assume we're talking about Sasuke?"

Naruto gave him a weak grin. "You know me too well, Kakashi-sensei." She got a happy eye-crescent from him.

"Sasuke is important to me, sensei. But ...man, this is awkward... I don't know if my feelings for him are just at deep-friendship level or whether they go much deeper than that."

"Basically you're not sure if you're in love with him or not," Kakashi stated calmly, not looking at the blonde. Naruto spluttered.

"In love? What! No way, man! How could I be in love with that teme? He's a guy!" she screeched loudly, arms flailing. Kakashi grinned at the defensive behaviour. Naruto seemed to have forgotten that she was in fact wondering if she had deeper feelings for Sasuke just a moment earlier.

"Well, _Keimei_, I'm sure you won't have any problems with him being a guy," Kakashi said with a lecherous wink. Naruto blushed and swung her fist off Kakashi's head. The jounin didn't bother evading the blow, but chuckled at the blonde.

"Pervert!" the blonde exclaimed. "And don't call me by that name while I'm not in that form," she added in a soft whisper.

"Ah, sumimasen, Naruto," Kakashi said, not really meaning it. "Care to tell me what this 'cost' of Sasuke's 'safety' is that you're talking about?"

Naruto shook her head. "Not yet, Kaka-sensei."

"Aa." A pause, then, "You've received information about his whereabouts?"

A wry smile. "Something like that."

"Aa."

The blonde made a conscious effort to shake off her gloomy mood, and gave her sensei a big smile. "So what brings you here? Kakashi-sensei."

"Just finished my mission; thought I'd aggravate Tsunade-sama by delaying my report." Happy eye-crescent.

Naruto grinned and pointed her chopsticks at him. "You'd better not be doing that when I'm Hokage!" Her grin faltered a little as she was reminded of the consequences of disagreeing with the Council, but she pushed it to the back of her mind, and hoped (rather futilely) that Kakashi hadn't noticed. Quickly, she continued, "If you're late I'll ban all Icha Icha books in Konoha!"

Kakashi had noted how she had quickly covered up, and was suspicious. He made a mental note to speak to Tsunade about it, but decided to humour Naruto for now. "No!" he squealed like a schoolgirl (_or Sakura_, he thought mischievously), grinning under his mask. "You wouldn't! You couldn't do that to your beloved sensei!"

Naruto laughed, and Kakashi was somewhat relieved to hear her. Her earlier somber mood didn't suit her at all. "You bet I will," Naruto declared, a sparkle in her eyes. Kakashi made a tragic face, or at least as tragic as a small patch of skin and a single eye could get, and Naruto laughed again.

"When did you get back from Suna?"

"About five or six days ago. Suna was nice, Gaara was really nice to me. Kankurou too. And Gaara got a famous Suna swordsman to teach me kenjutsu and hone my elemental affinity too. It was really good of him."

"That's great."

"Yeah, then Temari came back with me. She definitely missed Shikamaru, even though she was complaining about him all the way." She threw her chopsticks into the bowl and stood up.

"Thanks, Kaka-sensei. I needed that. Be seeing you 'round, then." She placed a few ryou notes on the counter and left with her hands behind her head.

Kakashi stared after her for a while, then turned back to the stand. "Teuchi-san!" he called. The owner of Ichiraku Ramen came out from behind the stand. "Ah! Kakashi-san! How can I help you? Been a while since I last saw you," Teuchi greeted jovially as he wiped his hands on his apron.

"Oh, I'm not here for a meal, unfortunately. But I did want to ask you, has anything happened while I was gone? Has Naruto been ok?"

"Eh? Nothing spectacular happened, as far as I know. Naruto seemed a little down these past few days, but today he was really out of it, you know?"

"Aa." Kakashi stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets, slouching a little. "Thanks, Teuchi-san. Ja." He disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

Teuchi made a disgruntled face. "First Naruto not finishing his ramen, and now Kakashi-san doesn't even order a bowl! What's happening these days?"

Xx

Xx

Tsunade looked anxiously at the clock on the wall to the right of her desk. She drummed her fingers anxiously on the pile of paperwork in front of her that she had given up doing half an hour ago since she couldn't concentrate.

Jiraiya shoved a saucer of sake under her nose, and she gratefully took it and drank it.

"Don't worry, Tsunade-hime. She'll be on time."

Tsunade swung around in her chair to look at Jiraiya, who was pouring himself some sake as he leant against the window like he did yesterday.

"It's not whether or not she'll be tardy that worries me, it's whether she'll be crazy enough to agree to the Council's crazy scheme," she said, holding out her sake saucer for more. Jiraiya tossed back his drink, placed his saucer on the window sill and reached for hers.

"You know she will, Tsunade. Being Hokage is everything to her, and she'll work towards it," he replied, as he poured out the sake for her.

Tsunade made an indistinct noise in her throat and took the saucer Jiraiya held out. The door banged open.

"Tsunade-obaachan!" Naruto said loudly as she bounced into the room and kicked the door shut behind her.

The Hokage grimaced. "Gaki! Haven't I told you to knock before you enter!" she reprimanded, then gulped down the sake and set aside the saucer. Naruto made herself comfortable in one of the two chairs in front of the Hokage's desk.

Becoming serious, Naruto said, "I've decided, Tsunade-obaachan."

Tsunade put her elbows on the desk and steepled her fingers. Jiraiya listened carefully, even though his posture was relaxed.

"And your answer is...?"

Naruto took a deep breath and looked Tsunade in the eye. "I want Sasuke safe, obaachan. I worked hard to bring him back to Konoha, and since he's here now I want to make sure he's safe."

"Aa." Tsunade deflated a little.

"The answer is yes, obaachan." Naruto said firmly.

"Are you sure, gaki? Do you understand what you're saying?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto's face showed a little confusion, and she said slowly, "I don't know, Ero-Sennin. I still don't know whether I can develop feelings for him in that way, and I don't think he'd have feelings for me in that way either. He'd just see me as a way to obtain what he wants."

Jiraiya made a 'hmph' noise. "And you still want to continue with this?"

Naruto lowered her eyes. "I want to be Hokage, Ero-Sennin, Tsunade-obaachan, and I'll do my best to be Hokage even if the Council is against me. I'll find a way to protect my precious people. But how can I become Hokage if I can't even save my friend?" She looked up determinedly. "Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash," she quoted, her eyes resolute. "I'm not lower than trash – I won't abandon my friend."

Tsunade sank back in her chair and crossed her arms under her bust, and Jiraiya fell silent.

"Naruto..." Tsunade started. "Keimei..."

"Tsunade-obaachan... what if I... Sasuke... refuse to... produce children?" Naruto asked, blushing a little. "I don't want to settle down and potter about at home, I want to go out and kick ass!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes as she smiled a little. "I'll have you know, Keimei, that Hokage don't go out and kick ass, they sit in the office and do paperwork."

Naruto grinned at her. "That's just you, obaachan! Coz you always don't do your work! When I'm Hokage, I'll get someone else to do the paperwork and I'll go out on missions!"

"Keep deluding yourself, gaki." Tsunade smiled wryly. "Now, about children..."

The younger blonde turned shy again. "I... It'll be a paper marriage, will that be good enough? I don't think I want to be tied to the teme for the rest of my life I don't think Sasuke would want that either."

Tsunade considered Naruto seriously before she nodded. "I don't like the idea of you being a baby-factory either. Just make sure you don't fool around with the Uchiha, or at least use protection if you do," she said, disregarding Naruto's indignant squawk and Jiraiya's lecherous laugh, "and I'm sure your medical records will show you to be unable to produce children, for medical reasons, if you know what I mean."

Naruto nodded, knowing that Tsunade meant to falsify information on her medical records if necessary.

"And as to whether you will separate in the future... that will be up to the two of you." Tsunade continued. "Any other questions?"

Naruto nodded again. "About my name, obaachan. I absolutely refuse to renounce the name Uzumaki," she said firmly, a hard glint in her eyes. She noticed both the Sannin stiffening. Her expression softened, and she said, "I don't know why, but I really want to keep my name, obaachan. It means a lot to me, it gives me the feeling of belonging to a family, you know? Sandaime-ojiji told me years ago that Uzumaki is my real name, and that I was the last Uzumaki. So I don't ever want to give up the Uzumaki name, especially not to Sasuke."

Tsunade glanced sharply at Jiraiya, whose eyebrows were furrowed. The Hokage's chest constricted, remembering the other Namikaze and Uzumaki both the Sannin had known well, especially Jiraiya. She was sure he wouldn't take very well to the name Uzumaki vanishing off the earth, and she wouldn't, either. She was both surprised and glad to see Naruto's pride in her family name.

The Hokage gave the matter some thought. "Well, there have been instances of clan merging, where both clan names were incorporated to form a new clan name. During the time you will be married to Uchiha, your clan name, as well as his, will be Uchiha-Uzumaki."

Naruto bounced in her seat, screeching indignantly, "What! Why does his name come first? It should be Uzumaki-Uchiha, not Uchiha-Uzumaki!"

Jiraiya laughed uproariously, earning a sulky "What's so funny, Ero-Sennin?" from the blonde girl.

Tsunade massaged her temples. "The husband's clan name always comes first, Keimei, whether you like it or not."

Naruto realized something. "Hey! My name's gonna be super long! Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto!"

Jiraiya barked a laugh. "That's definitely one mouthful!"

Tsunade glanced at the clock and sat up straight. "A final time, Naruto. Are you sure you agree to the Council's idea?"

Naruto also straightened in her seat, a determined look on her face. "All I have to do is be his wif... be married to him in name only, bait Itachi, wait for Sasuke to kill Itachi, and divorce him, and I'll be free to become Hokage, right? All shinobi make sacrifices for their village, this is my sacrifice. The Sharingan will is an advantage that Konoha has over other villages, and as the future Hokage it would be right to do as much as I can to ensure it remains in Konoha. Most of all, he's my friend, and I won't abandon him. Therefore, Tsunade-sama, my answer is yes."

Tsunade didn't look happy, but she nodded. Not two seconds later, a knock sounded on the door. "Enter!" she said loudly. Naruto craned her neck around in her seat to look as the door opened.

Shizune trotted in first, followed by two ANBU members who marched smartly into the Hokage's office. Behind the two were another two ANBU (one full squad, noted Naruto). And between the front two and back two was Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto immediately looked to the front, towards the windows with a faint blush tingeing her cheeks. Wordlessly, Sasuke was pushed into the seat next to her, and the ANBU exited the office. Shizune stood in her usual position next to the Hokage.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you will be released from prison on a basis – if you agree to certain requests by the Council of Konoha."

Sasuke sat mutely with an expressionless face, not bothering to indicate whether he had heard the Hokage. Tsunade frowned but continued.

"You will be given training by almost any shinobi of Konoha you choose, and you will be given a time frame in which you will be allowed to find and eliminate Uchiha Itachi."

That had Sasuke's attention, and he turned his hard eyes to Tsunade. "And the requests of the Council?" he asked in a monotone.

"You will swear loyalty to Konoha, you will not be allowed to leave Konoha for a year, except during the time given to you to hunt down Itachi. There will be ANBU following you everywhere you go. You will be sealed with a seal akin to the Hyuuga's Caged Bird seal, and only myself, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the ANBU squad captain will know the activation seals. And... you will have to consent to marry someone and have children to continue the Uchiha kekkei genkai."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he considered this. They were practically throwing themselves at his feet to beg him to remain in Konoha. And reviving the Uchiha clan was an ambition of his, anyway. While it wasn't pleasant to have such a dangerous seal, it made sense that they would want something to control him with. Training with anyone he chose sounded good, especially since he had learned as much as he could have from the now-dead Orochimaru. With more training it wouldn't be long before he was up to, or even better than, Itachi's standard.

But what was the catch?

"And if I refuse?"

Tsunade steepled her fingers and rested her elbows on her desk. "You will be imprisoned for life with a chakra seal, and your seed will be forcefully taken from you in order to continue the Sharingan heritage via in vitro fertilization."

Sasuke frowned slightly at this, which for him was saying a lot. He quickly reviewed what information he had received so far – what was the catch? Then he realized something.

"I assume my bride will be chosen for me?" It was more a statement than question. A strangled noise came from his right, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw him. Uzumaki Naruto. The boy who had brought him back to this place. A thought flew through his head – the dobe had been uncharacteristically quiet all this while.

Tsunade's steepled fingers curled into fists. "Yes," she said a little reluctantly. "Your… bride has been chosen for you, for reasons that benefit you and the Uchiha line."

Sasuke's attention was back on the Hokage.

"Do you agree to the terms?" the Hokage asked.

Sasuke considered his options – training and a chance to kill Itachi and revive his clan, or to rot in prison while they made test tube babies with sperm they'd squeeze out of him. He mentally shuddered at the thought that Sakura might be the one doing the 'squeezing'.

"If I were to agree, what will happen after I kill Itachi?"

"You will be reinstated as a shinobi of Konoha at jounin level, and will continue your duties as such. The Uchiha estate will be formally restored to you, and the restraining seal will be taken off once you have proved your loyalty to my satisfaction."

Tsunade looked at the Uchiha, and at Naruto in her peripheral vision. She hated that the Council had put Naruto in a position where she had to consent to their ridiculous scheme or give up her dream of becoming Hokage, which she was sure they weren't too supportive of in the first place. She hated the way they worshipped the Uchiha name, making light Sasuke's treason and giving him ridiculously simple terms of so-called punishment.

"So, Uchiha Sasuke. What is your decision? Will you agree to the Council's requests, or would you prefer to return to your cell?"

The room went quiet for a few moments. Jiraiya shifted noiselessly against the window and stared hard at Sasuke.

"I agree." His voice was a monotone again.

Beside him, Naruto deflated. Jiraiya crossed his arms unhappily, and Tsunade squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds.

"Alright, then, Uchiha." The Hokage opened her eyes. "You will probably be wondering who has been chosen as your bride."

That wasn't foremost on Sasuke's brain. He had been thinking of who in Konoha would make a good sensei, until Tsunade dropped the bomb.

"You will be marrying Uzumaki Keimei Naruto."

Silence.

"Excuse me?" he asked in a strained voice, his eyes widened a fraction.

Tsunade exhaled a deep breath. "You heard me right. You will be marrying Uzumaki Keimei Naruto. The Uchiha clan and the Uzumaki name will merge, and will be known as the Uchiha-Uzumaki clan."

Sasuke stared at the Hokage with almost a sneer on his face, "You want me to marry a male? That dobe?"

Ignoring Naruto's shout of "I'm not a dobe! And don't talk like I'm not right next to you!" Tsunade exhaled again.

"I'm about to reveal a seventeen, almost eighteen year old secret. The boy you know as Uzumaki Naruto is in fact Uzumaki Keimei, a girl."

Sasuke sank back in his chair, shock showing faintly on his face. He almost asked if the Hokage was joking, but one look the serious faces of both Sannin and the Hokage's aide told him it was no joke. He glanced at Naruto, who was looking away from him, obviously not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Keimei," Tsunade said gently, "Perhaps you want to dissolve the henge?"

Naruto sighed, then stood tiredly to face Sasuke but still did not look at him. The brunette was staring expressionlessly from his seat. Without any handseals, Naruto said, "Kai!" and released a tiny amount of chakra.

As Sasuke watched, Naruto's face took on more feminine features – the angles became softer, the cheeks slightly chubbier, the jawline less masculine. Her hair stayed the same – bright blonde shoulder-length spiky-ish hair. Her eyes were also the same sky-blue, but her lashes were longer. She was dressed in a boy's baggy black and orange jacket and black and orange loose pants that reached above her ankles, and had on black fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back of her hands. Unlike her face, there didn't seem to be any difference in her body.

"And the rest?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto fidgeted a little. "I only henge my face nowadays, unless body contact is imminent or unavoidable. The clothes are loose enough to cover the rest, and chest bindings always help." Her voice was higher. Not as squeaky and whiny as he remembered Sakura and Ino's voices to be, though. Naruto's voice was slightly husky.

"I see." Tsunade said, and turned back to the two young shinobi in front of her. "Keimei's name had been legally altered to Uzumaki Keimei Naruto six years ago, after her real gender and real female name were discovered." The Hokage turned to Shizune. "Bring me the marriage contract, Shizune." The Hokage's aide bowed and left the office.

"Uchiha," and Sasuke snapped out of the daze he was in. Naruto a girl? He turned to the Hokage.

"The Council wished for the two of you to produce Uchiha heirs, but let me give you a warning." Tsunade stared hard at Sasuke, and he could even feel a little killer intent leaking from her and the other Sannin. "Your 'marriage' here is only a paper marriage – a contract, or mission, if you prefer, that Keimei has graciously agreed to for your sake. I hope you understand what I mean by paper marriage. The Council expects Uchiha babies, but let me make it clear – _I_ do not expect any children from this marriage. Do I make myself clear?"

Sasuke nodded – he understood the implications of Tsunade's words. It wasn't like he actually wanted to do anything with Naruto. Naruto! The person he'd thought of as a male all this time. It was rather difficult to reconcile himself to the fact that he was in fact a she, and that they were to be 'married'. But he immediately saw the advantage of having Naruto around – he, no, she was the perfect lure for his Kyuubi-hunting brother. That alone made the whole deal agreeable. As long as he had his revenge, he'd marry Sakura if he had to.

Shizune returned and handed three sets of papers to the Hokage, who glanced at them and gave one copy to Naruto, who had taken her seat, and one to Sasuke. "Read through the contract and sign it. You will sign three copies – one for yourselves and one goes into the official records. By signing this you are officially engaged."

The two young shinobi signed the papers quietly.

"Good." Tsunade nodded. "The marriage is set for October eleventh. That's right. October eleventh," she repeated when she saw Naruto's surprised look, knowing an outburst would soon follow. "That's eight days from today. You are –"

Naruto's screech of "What? So soon?" disrupted her, as anticipated.

The Hokage shot Naruto a look, and replied, "It was set by the Council to provide you two more time to begin reviving the Uchiha clan, which, let me remind you, I am not expecting out of this arrangement." She paused. "Now, to continue what I had been saying, you are allowed to inform anyone of this marriage, but the reasons behind it are labeled need-to-know. Cook up a reasonable excuse if you're asked. Also, I don't care what the Council says, but if you are both in agreement, the contract can be cancelled. In other words, you can get a divorce."

"Tsunade-obaachan," Naruto piped up. "I have a few people I need to tell..."

Tsunade frowned at her. "They are...?"

"Well... Kiba, Neji, Hinata-chan, Shino and the Sand siblings know that I'm female, so I guess Shikamaru knows as well, and Hana-neechan and Ayame-neechan help me out in the more... feminine aspects I need help with - don't laugh, Ero-Sennin, or I'll tell the onsen owner you're in town! – and Kakashi-sensei needs to know (he already knows my secret), and I have to tell Iruka-sensei."

Tsunade chewed on this. "I suppose the first ten you mentioned found out on their own. Anyone with Byakugan can probably tell you're a girl if you only henge your face. I'm the one who told Kakashi, and I know you informed Iruka and Ayame... Sakura doesn't know, does she?"

Naruto looked ashamed. "...No. I haven't had the chance to tell her yet, with her work and my missions and all..."

"As I said, it'll be need-to-know information. Kakashi, Iruka and Ayame can be informed, but be sure to emphasize that it's to be kept under wraps. And if anyone else finds out, make sure they don't spill the information."

Naruto nodded, giving the Hokage a big grin, despite the fact that she didn't feel too cheerful inside.

"Alright, Naruto – the Kazekage requests your presence in Suna. Something about a whisper..."

Naruto's eyes shone and she bounced up happily. "Sasayaki! It's ready! Gaara's the best! When do I leave?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Yes, the missive mentioned a Sasayaki. You leave tomorrow morning. Be back at least one day before your wedding."

Naruto cringed a little at the mention of 'wedding', and Sasuke felt a little something stir as he watched his bride-to-be go from being so happy at the thought of meeting the Kazekage to being uneasy at the mention of marriage. He pushed down the feeling, not wanting to analyze it. The only feeling he allowed himself was hatred for Itachi.

"You're dismissed. Go get some rest."

Naruto said goodbye loudly to the two Sannin and Shizune, gave Sasuke an unreadable look and left the office. Tsunade's eyes, which followed Naruto to the door, turned back to Sasuke.

"Naruto will hate me for saying this, but, even though I know she's a competent and powerful ninja, you had better not hurt her in any way," Jiraiya said from his place at the window sill, his voice hard.

"Do not hurt her, Uchiha. She considers you as a person precious enough for her to put aside her own wants for. She's sacrificing so you can achieve your dream, and be 'safe', as she puts it. She could have disagreed, but she decided in your favour. For your sake. You'd better appreciate it," Tsunade said. "If you hurt her in any way, I will personally make sure the Uchiha line will never be passed down." The Hokage pointed a finger at him. Green chakra flowed out of the finger in the form of a spike, and she slowly moved her finger horizontally, miming a slicing movement.

Sasuke made no reply, his face expressionless. Tsunade stared critically at him for a while, then she nodded to Shizune, who went to the door to call the ANBU squad that had escorted him earlier.

"You will be staying in a new apartment that both you and Naruto will be sharing after your wedding. It's a two-bedroom apartment. You'll also be given an allowance out of the Uchiha estate since you won't be earning money on missions like a normal shinobi. Kakashi will be informed of the situation, and will assist you with the few wedding preparations you'll need. I will seal you tomorrow. You may leave now."

The ANBU squad escorted Sasuke out of the office to his new apartment.

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Sasayaki means whisper.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated :-)


	3. Chapter 3  Another Proposal!

U/L: 22nd October 2007.

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**I Think I**

_by TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 3 – Another Proposal?!**

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Naruto leapt through the trees as the early morning sun glinted through the mosaic of leaves above her. Two ANBU escorts were beside her as was usual when she left Konoha for personal reasons, unless Ero-Sennin accompanied her. It rankled with her that Tsunade-obaachan didn't assign her any solo missions because of Akatsuki, but she understood the obvious reasons for that. The two ANBU, however, were not her usual escorts – Yamato-taichou and Sai – because they had a mission. She was in full female form, although she was still wearing the baggy boy's clothes, which she much preferred to girl's clothing.

Her thoughts were in a whirl. She was now officially engaged to Sasuke. It made her feel better to know that she didn't have to produce babies – something she fervently thanked Tsunade-obaachan for - and that she could ask for a divorce at any time, although she did wonder how a divorce would affect her chances as Hokage. And there was the disturbing knowledge that as Sasuke's… wife, her chances at becoming Hokage probably weren't high either, since the Council expected her to be producing Sharingan babies.

Then there was the wedding to think about. Ever since she found out she was actually female, she had had a hard time coping with the physical changes, the difference in weight distribution, which affected her movements and thus her taijutsu, and most of all, menstruation. She made a disgusted face – boys had it much easier without monthly cycles. At first, she kept in her male form as much as possible, but Tsunade advised her to get used to her real body, which was sound advice, she supposed.

She guessed she was quite the tomboy. Hana-neechan and Ayame-neechan always helped her get girly stuff like bras and underwear and skirts (she hated those, but Tsunade made her wear skirts every now and then when she was off-duty) and heels (she still wobbled a little on heels) and makeup. She disliked makeup the most, although she loved using a cherry-coloured lip gloss that she had discovered in Suna. It kept her lips from chapping, and to be honest, she liked the cherry colour on her lips, too. The two women, together with Hinata-chan, were always trying to get her to be more lady-like, and were always frustrated with the way she 'stomped around like a man', according to Hana-neechan, or 'slurped up ramen like a greedy pig', according to Ayame-neechan, or 'had less-than-impeccable manners', according to Hinata-chan. Hinata-chan always did say things in such a nice way.

As such, she didn't really think about boyfriends and dates and weddings, although she often heard civilian girls and some kunoichi talk excitedly about those things. Her mind had been occupied with taijutsu and ninjutsu and getting Sasuke back and becoming Hokage. But now she was forced to think of her own wedding, even though it was just a paper marriage. She had heard girls chatter excitedly about romance, and flowers and chocolates and jewelry. Unexpectedly, she felt a twinge of sadness to know that she wouldn't be receiving any of those things from her husband-to-be.

_It's just a mission!_ She reminded herself over and over again. _I'm doing this so that Sasuke can kill Itachi, which would be one less threat for me, and then Sasuke will stay in the village. That's why I'm doing this. _But it didn't ease the dull ache that had settled in a tiny corner of her heart.

It was their third day of travel, and Naruto knew that soon they would enter Suna territory. She looked forward to seeing Gaara again. Gaara had been very nice to her during the year-long goodwill mission she had just returned from. Towards the end of the year, he had made time to see her, to take her around, and eat lunch with her often. Even in the beginning of the year he had instructed Suna's finest swordmaster, Kujira-sensei, to teach her kenjutsu. She had also been taught quite a few Fuuton techniques, since Suna had many wind users. Then she had been taught to combine her Fuuton chakra with kenjutsu, and Gaara and Kujira-sensei had promised to make her a good katana that could conduct chakra, like she remembered Asuma-sensei's trench knives could. But Baki-sensei had taught her kaze no yaiba as well, just in case she had to part with the katana.

Grass changed to sand on the forest floor, and soon the trio found themselves running through the desert. The sun had risen high and was hot on their backs.

Xx

Xx

"Gaara!" came a shout, and a large orange-and-black ball suddenly launched itself at the Kazekage. The stoic redhead stumbled back a few paces, and Suna jounin who were standing next to the Kazekage quickly moved to detach the parasite clinging to their leader, but Gaara held them off with a raised hand. The same raised hand rose to pat the mop of messy, spiky blonde hair.

"Uzumaki Keimei Naruto."

Naruto smiled and hopped onto her own feet. Gaara's lips twitched up at the corners in reply, and those near enough to see it were shocked. The Kazekage never smiled at anyone other than his siblings, and even that was rare.

"Welcome, Keimei."

"You know, Gaara, apart from Tsunade-obaachan you're the only one who calls me that," Naruto grinned at her friend. Those who had met the cheerful blonde just rolled their eyes mentally at her less than respectful way of addressing her own Kage and theirs, while those jounin who had yet to be introduced to the Konoha nin had to pick their jaws off the ground. Such insubordination would have been severely punished in Suna.

And most were wondering why the Kazekage took time off his busy schedule to greet the Konoha nin at their gates instead of letting them go to his office and greet him there, which would have been a sign of respect on Konoha's side.

"So, Gaara, where's Kujira-sensei? And Tsunade-obaachan said you said Sasayaki is ready! I can't wait!"

More jaws dropped as the Kazekage chuckled lightly and started walking into the village, Naruto almost bouncing beside him. All but four of the Suna jounin dispersed, and the remaining four escorted the Konoha guests and the Kazekage down the village streets to the blacksmith.

Many people stopped what they were doing to bow respectfully to the Kazekage and his guest (the ANBU remained hidden). Even as Naruto cheerfully returned the greetings, and chatted a little with those who remembered her from her previous mission, she couldn't help but be pleased and a little proud to see Gaara acknowledge the greetings with polite nods and even polite words when he knew the person a little better.

"Kujira-sensei!" shouted Naruto, waving wildly as she saw a tall, dignified grey-haired man in his sixties come out of a little shack by the side of a large house at the end of the street. Without another word, she ran off to meet the man, who had looked up and smiled when he heard the familiar voice.

"Ah! The gaki's back!" he said, ruffling Naruto's hair when she reached him. She playfully swatted his hand away and pouted. "Why do most old people I know call me gaki? I'm going to be eighteen soon! I'm not a gaki anymore!"

Kujira grinned and ruffled the blonde hair again, and was about to reply when the Kazekage quietly materialized beside the Konoha kunoichi. "Kazekage-sama," the older man said, bowing respectfully.

"Kujira-dono," Gaara replied, bowing a little as well. "As you can see, Keimei has rushed all the way from Konoha when she heard Sasayaki was ready."

Kujira chuckled as Naruto looked hopefully at him. "Yeah, yeah, it's ready. Give me a minute and I'll get it for you." He disappeared into the dark shack. Naruto looked curiously into the shack and saw two anvils and a fire burning brightly, as well as neatly stacked pieces of metal, and neatly arranged equipment hanging from the roof and on the walls. She could vaguely make out Kujira as he picked something off a rickety-looking shelf and came out again.

"Here," Kujira said, handing the damask-wrapped long object to her. Eagerly, Naruto took the object from him and carefully undid the leather cords that kept the damask cloth wrapped around the object within. She gently removed the cloth and gasped happily.

The scabbard of the katana was beautifully engraved with a swirling pattern, and the Uzumaki swirl stood out in the middle of the sheath on both its flat surfaces. The katana hilt's wrappings were her favourite orange in colour, and the hilt-guard, or tsuba, was in the shape of the Uzumaki swirl, and was made of what seemed to be red glass with a thin metal outer rim.

In a fluid movement, she gripped the scabbard with her left hand and drew out the katana with her right. The katana was long, almost 80cm in length, and made of a metal so black it gleamed, but didn't reflect much light. All the better in terms of stealth, where the smallest reflection of light could give you away. On one side of the flat of the blade was inscribed her name – Uzumaki Keimei Naruto – and on the other side the name of the katana – Sasayaki – in beautiful calligraphy. She executed a few mock thrusts and swipes, getting used to the weight of the katana in her hand, then re-sheathed it and turned to Kujira.

"Well?" the swordmaster asked, grinning. "Satisfied?"

"Satisfied?" Naruto asked incredulously. "The katana is incredible! I'm beyond satisfied!" Smiling widely, she glomped Kujira, katana held carefully in one hand.

"Although..." she released her sensei and said sheepishly, "It's gonna take me a heck of a long time to pay you back, Kujira-sensei. I don't have much money, and..."

"Nonsense!" Kujira cut her off. He gave her a fond smile. "It's been paid for. Me and Kazekage-sama went dutch on this."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? But it's got to be extremely expensive! It's made of chakra-conducting metal! I can't let you pay for it all!"

"It is our gift to you, Keimei," Gaara spoke up quietly. He had been enjoying Naruto's happiness at receiving the katana.

"Yes. Think of it as a long overdue gift in appreciation of you rescuing and reviving the Kazekage three years ago," Kujira said. Gaara nodded, but became puzzled as Naruto pouted.

"But that was supposed to be an advanced favour from the future Hokage to the Kazekage! And I didn't do much then, either! And if you pay me back the favour how'm I gonna get Gaara to do favours for me, huh?" she said childishly.

Gaara almost smiled in relief; he thought he had somehow offended the blonde kunoichi. Kujira laughed outright.

"In that case, think of it as a simple expression of gratitude for setting me on the right path six years ago, Keimei, although a mere katana could never be equivalent to the thankfulness I feel," Gaara told her. Naruto was quiet for a while, then a small, genuine smile lit her face. It was one of those smiles Gaara loved, but hardly got to see. Her smile then widened into one that almost split her face in two.

"Okay! I got no problem thinking of it that way! Then you'll still owe me, the future Hokage, a favour!" she said happily as she traced the patterns in the scabbard with her fingers. Gaara gave her a small smile, to which she replied with another of those beautiful, genuine smiles.

"Oh yes!" Kujira-sensei exclaimed. He hurried into the shack, rooted around the things on a desk, and returned with something in hand. He thrust it towards Naruto. "It's a belt with a loop to attach the katana."

The blonde took the belt. It was black leather, with the red Uzumaki swirl embroidered into the centre. Kujira held the katana for her as she put tied it on, and adjusted it so that the Uzumaki swirl was in the centre and the loop was directly above her left hip. The sword master instructed her on how to attach and detach the katana, and made her practice unsheathing and sheathing her Sasayaki till she could do it fluidly.

"Keimei." Gaara said, after watching her for a while. "I'm sorry to say that I have to leave. Kujira-dono will instruct you in your practice today. You and your escorts are invited to stay at the Kazekage's Offices, where rooms have been prepared for you. And I would like to take you out to dinner tonight, if you're agreeable."

"Or course! Thanks, Gaara! You're the best! Say hi to Kankurou for me, will you?" Naruto gave the redhead a thumbs-up. Gaara nodded to both Naruto and Kujira, and disappeared in a whirl of sand.

"Alright!" Kujira-sensei clapped his hands twice. "Let's see how you bond with Sasayaki!"

xx

xx

A knock sounded on her bedroom door.

"Almost ready!" Naruto called out. She quickly gave her hair a last brush, patted down her pale blue long-sleeved blouse and simple black silk below-the-knee skirt. As she retied her blue sash (the colour of her eyes), she looked in the mirror to check her cherry lip gloss. It was the only bit of make-up she used, because she liked the warm colour, and it kept her lips moist. Her cursed necklace – the one she won from Tsunade – hung outside her blouse for once.

Satisfied, and feeling a little girly, she went to answer the door.

"Konbanwa, Keimei," Gaara greeted with a small smile. He was quite surprised to see a very feminine-looking Naruto standing in front of him even if it didn't show on his face. It was the first time he'd ever seen her in anything other than her usual ninja garb or casual t-shirt and baggy shorts. With a faint pink tinting his cheeks, he noted that she hadn't bound her chest this time.

"Konbanwa, Gaara!" she greeted cheerfully. "Let's go get dinner! I'm starved!" With that, she bounced out of the room, locked the door and turned to the Kazekage. The smile still on his face, he held out a small box wrapped in orange. A big smile lit Naruto's face.

"Happy birthday in advance, Keimei."

Touched, Naruto took the box and unwrapped it carefully, albeit a little clumsily. Inside was an intricately carved jewelry box, and when Naruto opened it, she saw a coloured bead and silver bracelet. The beads were blue (like her eyes), yellow (like her hair), orange (her favourite shade, too) and red (the Uzumaki spiral red), and were arranged in fours comprised of each colour, and each group of four were separated by a tiny silver spiral and hourglass. The beads were crystal clear, and sparkled like diamonds. Naruto looked at Gaara with large, grateful eyes.

The Kazekage merely took the bracelet out of the box and fastened it on her right wrist. "The beads are extremely-hardened glass made from the sand in my gourd," he informed her.

Naruto felt her heart clench, and gave Gaara a big hug.

"Thank you so much, Gaara. No one has ever given me such a birthday present before. Well, except the goggles someone left on my door for my tenth birthday – I still don't know who it was, but still, this is beautiful!"

She wiped some moisture that threatened to spill out of her eyes. Gaara's forehead creased a little. "Are you crying, Keimei? Did I upset you?"

Naruto laughed. "No, silly. I'm so touched that you're so nice to me. Most people in Konoha ignore me on my birthday, and those that don't- well, they give me unpleasant gifts, if you get my drift." She rubbed her eyes again, and looked up to see Gaara frowning, anger in his eyes. She supposed he had got her drift, and wasn't happy about what she had just revealed about her birthday 'presents' in Konoha, since she'd told him about the sealing occurring on the day she had been born.

She sniffed and wiped her hands on her skirt, and something in the back of her mind told her that Ayame-neechan would have scolded her for doing that, so she stopped and gave Gaara a sheepish smile.

"I'm being such a girl, huh, Gaara?" she laughed self-consciously, fidgeting with her sash, then froze slightly as Gaara offered her his arm.

"You _are_ a girl, Keimei. And a beautiful one, at that."

Naruto laughed again, hilariously this time. "Now you're really being silly, Gaara! Don't let the skirt and blouse fool you! Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan and even Temari are much prettier than I am!" She took the offered arm somewhat awkwardly – it was such a girly thing to do, and she didn't particularly like girly stuff, but she didn't want to offend Gaara, who was being so nice to her.

Xx

Xx

"This is really great, Gaara!" Naruto said happily, playing with the desert rose he had given her earlier. It was another girly thing, but she realized she liked it. Half-consciously she remembered thinking of how girls equated flowers, chocolate and jewelry with romance...

Her eyes widened. In her hands were two out of the three – she had a bracelet – jewelry – and was holding a desert rose – flower. Surely Gaara didn't mean...? _Silly girl!_ she chided herself, and almost laughed aloud. That was such a ridiculous idea.

_But he did bring me to a really nice, secluded restaurant for a birthday dinner, and he listened to me rave about Sasayaki, and now we're just watching the stars from the roof of the highest building in Suna... It's practically like what Sakura-chan calls a date..._

Shoving the unease building up into the back of her mind, Naruto forced herself to relax and leaned back into the bench she and Gaara were sitting on. The breeze was light, making her blonde spikes ruffle in the wind.

"I can never thank you enough, Keimei, for all that you've done for me," Gaara said softly, breaking the silence that had settled since Naruto last spoke. "You pulled me out of the hell of loneliness, you helped me find a new purpose in caring for the village I thought I hated, and you literally brought me back from the dead."

"Aww, Gaara, we're friends, that's what friends do for each oth..."

"Keimei."

Naruto turned to Gaara as he cut off what she had been saying. He looked serious, his teal eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, which lit up his blood-red hair like a flame and bathed his pale skin in an ethereal glow. The kanji 'Ai' tattooed on his forehead stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin. Naruto felt her heart flutter just a little as she realized how handsome Gaara had become, even if those rings around his eyes never went away and his eyebrows never grew back, for some reason. If anything, they actually enhanced his looks.

"Keimei, I have thought it over many times during the past year that you have been with me in Suna, and I have come to the conclusion, the realization, that I have feelings for you."

Naruto's eyes widened and she stared into Gaara's unwavering teal eyes. Gaara gently took her hands in his, onto his lap.

"Uzumaki Keimei Naruto, I love you."

Naruto stared at him, shocked. Her mind ran over the last months of her year-long mission in Suna; how Gaara had always done his best to make time to have at least one meal a day with her even though she knew he was busy most of the time, how he wouldn't allow her to pay for her food when they went out for meals, how he had always made sure she had everything she needed, both mission-wise and personally even though those things were her own responsibility. Most of all she realized she wasn't imagining things when she saw his eyes harden into glares whenever she was around other men who were trying to get extra friendly with her.

He really did love her – she could see it in his usually blank eyes.

Gaara wasn't finished.

"Keimei… will you… marry me?"

Naruto's jaw hung loose, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times. Gaara... in love with her? Marry him?

"Gaara…"

At her tone, Gaara knew the answer, but he gripped her hands harder. He hadn't brought his gourd, but the small amount of sand that was on the rooftop swirled angrily around their feet. Gaara forced himself to calm down, and the sand slowly receded.

"Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto."

Gaara blinked. "...What?"

Naruto repeated what she had said, a little sadly. "Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto. I'm engaged to Uchiha Sasuke, Gaara."

"I see." Gaara's tone was so quiet but so heartbroken that she held onto his hands as he tried to pull away.

"It's not what you think, Gaara," Naruto said, and explained the full situation to him. To his credit, he listened carefully without interrupting.

"I see..." he said again when she finished. "What are your feelings for Uchiha, then?"

Unconsciously, she gripped his hands harder as she looked down. "I don't know, Gaara. I really don't know. He's my friend, my rival... I trained hard to bring him back, and now he's back, and I'm the only way he can get a chance to kill Itachi, and then be free in Konoha... Right now I think of it as a mission – something I must do for my village. The Sharingan is one of Konoha's trump cards, and since I have the power, I should do everything I can to ensure it stays in Konoha."

She paused for a moment, and turned her head back to look at Gaara. "I think of you as my friend, Gaara. Probably my closest, best friend. You're the only one who really understands what I've been through, what I'm going through."

She took a breath. "I dunno much about love and stuff, but I think love you, Gaara, just not in that way." She gave him a watery smile. "Besides, you're the Kazekage, and I'm the future Hokage – it would be difficult if we were married, eh?"

Her spirits rose a little as Gaara gave a pained, tiny smile. Instinctively, she scooted closer to the redhead and enveloped him in a tight hug, different from the friendly hugs she always gave.

"I'm so sorry to break your heart, Gaara. I really wish I did feel for you like you want me to. I mean, you're the guy who treats me the nicest – much better than Sasuke-teme, and he's supposed to be my husband in four days." Naruto's voice cracked at the word husband. She tightened her arms around Gaara's warm body, and felt him return her hug. She relaxed in his embrace.

"You're so comforting, Gaara. Wouldn't have thought you had it in you, thinking of how you were years ago," Naruto pushed back a little and looked at him with a small grin.

"I'll still love you, Keimei," Gaara answered softly. Impulsively, she kissed him lightly on his tattoo. Blushing, she drew back and grinned at him.

"There! You are the honoured recipient of Uzumaki Keimei Naruto's first kiss to be given to a guy! Although, I did kiss Sasuke-teme six years ago, but that was a total accident, and I didn't even want it or like it, so it doesn't count." She grinned at him again, and was happy to see him smile back a little, although his eyes still showed pain. The redhead gently brushed locks of blonde hair that shone golden under the moonlight away from the clear blue eyes. They had drooped down since Naruto wasn't wearing her hitai-ate. He loved those blue eyes that always sparkled with life.

Gaara let go of Naruto and stood up. Turning slightly, he offered Naruto a hand. "We should get going, Keimei. You have to leave early tomorrow, anyhow."

Smiling at him, she took the offered hand and pulled herself off the bench, then hooked her hand through his like she had done earlier in the evening.

"I'm not marrying you, Gaara, but I'm keeping the bracelet," she said in a playful tone, as they walked back to the Kazekage's Offices in the bright moonlight. Gaara looked at her, smiling a little.

"Of course, Keimei. I wouldn't dream of asking it back from you. Keep it as a reminder of me."

"Gaara!" she said in an indignant tone, and he stopped to look at her, anxious that he had somehow offended her.

"I don't need anything to remind you of me!" she declared, smiling at his anxiety. "You're always here," she continued, and placed her free hand over her heart.

"Thank you, Keimei. It is the same for me." He kept the small smile the whole way back to her room.

Xx

Xx

The sun had barely peeked above the horizon as the Suna and Konoha shinobi stood at the gates of Sunagakure no Sato.

The Kazekage stood with his back to his village, a team of jounin, Kankurou and Kujira with him. The Konoha trio faced the Suna group.

"Thanks for everything, Kazekage-sama. Your hospitality is much appreciated," Naruto said.

"The shinobi of Konoha are always welcomed guests in Suna," the Kazekage replied.

Naruto grinned, shrugging off the formal atmosphere. She launched herself at Kujira. "Thanks so much, Kujira-sensei! I've learned so much from you, and Sasayaki is the best katana in the world!"

The grey-haired man laughed. "Anytime, gaki. You're always welcome in my house." He patted her head affectionately.

Naruto released her kenjutsu sensei and hopped to Kankurou, who gave her a cheery grin, which she returned. He slapped her on the shoulder, hard, and she slapped him back just as hard.

"Take care, shrimp!" he said.

"Be seeing you around, doll-boy!" she replied, and walked a few steps to Gaara.

"Well, Gaara," she said, smiling. Awkwardly but determinedly, he reached out and hugged her, to the intense surprise of the Suna nin beside him. She hugged back and then let go, then kissed his tattoo again. The Suna nin were floored, their eyes popping out of their head.

"I love you too, Gaara. Don't forget – you're my best friend," she whispered in his ear, and he nodded. She stepped back, then raised her right hand to touch her chest where her heart was. Gaara understood immediately, and mimicked her movements with a slight smile.

Naruto broke into a huge grin, nodded to her ANBU escorts, who bowed respectfully to the Kazekage, and waved her right hand at them. The early morning sunlight made her bracelet sparkle brightly.

Then, together, the Konoha trio turned around and headed back to Konoha at a fast run.

* * *

A.N.: Forgive me for the sappiness in the chapter… my teeth were rotting when I reread it :p 

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4  Confrontation

U/L: 31st October 2007

A.N.: I've gone back and corrected that shameful mistake in the very first line of chapter 1. shame on me.

* * *

**I Think I**

by_ TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 4 - Confrontation**

* * *

Shinobi instincts kicked in the moment she landed in the clearing with her ANBU escorts. Instead of preparing to leap back into the trees to continue on their way to Konoha, they quickly leaped back as a foreign chakra signature made itself known to them.

Immediately on her guard, despite the lack of killing intent from the unknown person, she quickly henge-d her face into her male form and gripped Sasayaki's hilt. Slipping into the Suna kenjutsu stance Kujira-sensei taught her, she noted the ANBU were in taijutsu stances as well, and at the nod of the senior ANBU, she called out in a voice deeper than her real voice, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Somewhat deranged chuckles were heard, and a figure wrapped in a long black hooded cloak rose fluidly out of the ground not four meters in front of the Konoha nins.

"Naruto-kun. A pleasure to meet you," the cloaked man said. Naruto narrowed her eyes – the voice was very familiar. Then a mental light bulb went off in her head.

"Kabuto! What do you want?" she asked, half-unsheathing her katana. The ANBU beside her tensed, and she could feel killing intent from them, but surprisingly, none from Kabuto so far.

The traitorous medic nin raised his head so that they could see the right half of his face, but his left half was kept covered by the hood. He gave them a smile.

"Now, now, Naruto-kun, must you always be so brash?" Kabuto chuckled. "I come in peace. After all, we're both after the same thing. Or person, rather."

"What are you talking about?" the blonde girl said loudly, watching the traitor warily.

"Why, Sasuke-sama, of course. No, I should call him Sasuke-kun now, since he did kill Orochimaru-sama after all."

Naruto schooled her features to reveal no surprise at the fact that Kabuto apparently didn't know Sasuke was back in Konoha.

"And so?"

"No need to be so rude, Naruto-kun. One would think that you had learned some manners by now, eh?"

"Get on with it, Kabuto. I don't have time for this. Where's Sasuke if he's not with Orochimaru? And how could he have killed that Hebi Yarou? He's not that strong!" Naruto bluffed.

Kabuto chuckled his deranged chuckle again and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "It's true, Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun killed Orochimaru-sama when he was at his weakest – at the exact moment he began the body transfer. As to where Sasuke-kun is now, I'm afraid I have only a vague idea. Rumour has it that he fought Uchiha Itachi at the Suna-Konoha border. I'm making my way there to investigate the scene of the crime, so to speak."

"And why are you telling me all this? What do you want with me?" asked Naruto as she glared at the grey-haired man. The mad glint in his eye sent a shiver down her spine. Kabuto slowly reached for something behind his back under his cloak, and the Konoha trio quickly tensed. Naruto pulled out Sasayaki and held it in a defensive position, and the ANBU members pulled out their own katana.

Kabuto merely tossed a black book at them.

"What's that?" Naruto didn't relax her guard.

"A copy of Orochimaru-sama's compiled information on Akatsuki. His little black book, you might say."

"And why are you giving this to us?"

"Well, Naruto-kun. As you probably know, Orochimaru-sama was once a member of Akatsuki, and when he left, they weren't too happy about it, and had been giving him quite a bit of trouble."

"And so?" Naruto asked stupidly, although she could already understand what Kabuto was insinuating. It never hurt to mislead your enemies into thinking you were stupider than you actually were.

Kabuto bought the act, and sighed. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Naruto-kun. This information will help Konoha, and Suna, if your Hokage wishes to share the information, to be better prepared in facing the Akatsuki. It might not lead you to them, but Orochimaru-sama did note down the favoured jutsu of each user, their fighting styles, their quirks, and other relevant information."

"Oh," Naruto said, and keeping to the 'I'm Naruto the idiot' act, shouted, "Don't call me your friend!"

Kabuto sighed in exasperation at her apparent stupidity. "Naruto-kun," he said, "You should actually consider being my friend. After all, I will be powerful someday soon."

"What are you talking about, Kabuto?"

For an answer, Kabuto flung off his hood, and Naruto had to fight the urge to recoil in disgust.

Kabuto's left eye had been surgically replaced with one having a yellow pupil with a black slit in the centre. It was Orochimaru's eye, and the skin on the left half of his face, especially around the transplanted eye, had taken on a scaly quality.

The medic nin gave them a freaky smile, which was made worse by the sight of Orochimaru's eye. "Only one eye," he said almost giddily, "and already I can feel the power flowing through me, trying to overtake my consciousness. You and I are similar, Naruto-kun. Are you Uzumaki Naruto, or are you the Kyuubi no Kitsune? I am faced with this problem myself, having led different lives, and I find myself wondering who the real Yakushi Kabuto is. You are trying to find yourself by aiming to become the Hokage. _I_ will be the most powerful – I will subdue this power of Orochimaru-sama's and bend it to my will, and I will be the most powerful."

Naruto shot him a look of disgust. "You're crazy, Kabuto! Orochimaru's eye has screwed up your mind, like the curse seal did to Sasuke!"

Kabuto laughed, a sound that reminded Naruto of Orochimaru. "Kukuku, Naruto-kun. It's merely a matter of perception. I will be strong, because I will subdue this power. Think over my offer, Naruto-kun. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Naruto didn't reply, but held Sasayaki in an attacking stance.

Kabuto shook his head, but something caught his attention, and he stared intently at Naruto. "Something is different about you, Naruto-kun."

"What are you talking about?!" yelled Naruto, frantically hoping he didn't see through her henge.

Kabuto considered her critically. "I can't seem to lay my finger on it," he murmured to himself, "but something is not right with him." He shook himself and smiled his freaky smile at the Konoha trio. "Until we meet again, Naruto-kun." Saying that, he dissolved into the ground, leaving only the black book as evidence of him having been there.

Naruto sheathed her katana and walked forward to retrieve the book, but the ANBU on her right held out his hand.

"One moment, Uzumaki-san, while we make sure it's not a trap." He nodded to his partner, who flashed through some handseals, and then kept his hands in the ram seal for a minute, before nodding. "Clear."

"You have to teach me that," murmured Naruto, impressed by the usefulness of the jutsu. She stepped forward and bent down to pick up the book. It wasn't very thick – probably about thirty pages or so. She quickly put the book into her bag amidst the clothes she had worn last night that Gaara had given her, and nodded to the ANBU as she zipped up her bag.

Nodding back to her, the trio quickly continued on their way to Konoha, but kept alert as they leapt through the trees.

Xx

Xx

Naruto dropped her henge as the gates of Konoha came into view. She sighed in resignation, knowing that she couldn't hide behind the henge anymore. She couldn't really blame the Council on this point – after all, she couldn't masquerade as a male for the rest of her life, although she was really tempted to. It was the all explaining she knew she would have to do that made her less than enthusiastic about remaining a girl.

Unconsciously, her left hand played with the beads of the bracelet she wore under her fingerless glove on her right hand. Steeling herself, she dropped down from the trees with the ANBU and walked up to the gates, and nodded to the chuunin on gate duty. As soon as they entered the village, the three jumped up to the nearest roof and made their way to the Hokage Tower.

All their way to the Hokage Tower, and right up to the door of the Hokage's office, they didn't meet anyone Naruto knew well, for which she was grateful. They were probably at home, like the rest of the village, preparing for the annual festival that celebrated the defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Just thinking of that made her stomach twist, and left a sour taste in her mouth. She hated those festivals, where the villagers would treat her extra viciously, knowing that she wouldn't retaliate or report them. She was thankful, though, that most of the villagers had become more receptive of her as a person – more people had come to the realization that she was not the Kyuubi. However, there were still those stubborn ones who took out their grief at losing their loved ones eighteen years ago on her, and insisted on believing that she was the Kyuubi. She sneered mentally – they never realized that if she really was the Kyuubi, they'd have long been dead.

Her seventeenth birthday had been her best so far, because she had spent it with Gaara and her new friends in Suna, and they had thrown a birthday party for her – her first ever. She had cried a few tears when they surprised her with the cake.

Pushing the unpleasant memories of birthdays in Konoha to the back of her mind and marching up to the door, she threw it open with a shout of "Tsunade-obaachan!", and expertly dodged the pen thrown at her. It was caught by the junior ANBU of her two escorts.

"I'm home!" she sing-songed obnoxiously, grinning at the tired-looking Tsunade, whose desk was covered with papers.

"About time, brat!" Tsunade snapped, not particularly playfully.

Naruto carefully held her katana and dropped into one of the chairs opposite Tsunade. The ANBU remained standing.

"Tsunade-sama," the senior ANBU member said, "We have something pertinent to report. We had a confrontation with Yakushi Kabuto." The man continued to give the specifics of the event – distance from Konoha, time, matters discussed, description of Kabuto and even the duration of the confrontation as the Hokage listened with a displeased expression. Naruto was impressed with his memory, and contributed to the report from time to time.

"Sou ka..." Tsunade mused, steepling her fingers on her desk as she leaned forward. "Keimei, the black book?"

Naruto nodded and dug into her bag to produce the item, and handed it over to Tsunade. The older blonde took it and cursorily flipped through it, her frown becoming deeper and deeper the more pages she glanced at. Finally, she tossed the book at the senior ANBU member behind Naruto.

"Give it to the ANBU Defense Tactics Unit Head, and tell her I want a full report on each Akatsuki member, as well as suggested defenses and Konoha-Akatsuki match-up suggestions in case we decide to send Konoha nin after Akatsuki," ordered the Hokage. "Anything else to report?"

"Iie, Hokage-sama. I'll see to it the DTU Head receives your instructions."

"Good job. I'll expect a detailed report by noon tomorrow. Dismissed," said Tsunade, and the two bowed smartly and went out the door. Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto. "What do you make of it?"

"He didn't reveal much about his intentions," Naruto said shrewdly. "He's using us in a sense – he wants us to start eliminating Akatsuki, but he didn't say why, instead he spouted the stuff about enemies and friends."

Tsunade nodded, inwardly pleased with another instance of Naruto showing that she wasn't a complete idiot. "Go on."

"He's after Sasuke. He was apparently much attached to Orochimaru, for some reason or another, and he wants to avenge the Hebi Yarou's death. Just what we need – an avenger going after our own little avenger-boy," Naruto said, and gave an exaggerated groan. Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"We'll have to inform Sasuke that Kabuto's lurking around," continued Naruto, and Tsunade nodded.

"Speaking of Sasuke, I just want to remind you that your wedding is tomorrow at twilight. Ayame, Hana and Hinata will assist you with the wedding kimono-"

"Nani?! Wedding kimono!" screeched Naruto. "I thought all we had to do was sign some papers! No one said anything about a wedding kimono!"

Tsunade smirked in amusement at her. "You will be dressed up, Keimei. Don't worry, though. It's a simpler version of the real thing, and it has your new clan symbol embroidered on it. Oh, and by the way, I took the liberty of getting Ayame to go through your clothes in your apartment, and the Uzumaki spiral on every single piece of clothing you own has been replaced with the Uchiha-Uzumaki clan symbol."

"NANI!" Naruto jumped up and pointed at Tsunade angrily. "How could you do that?"

"Oh?" asked Tsunade, feigning misunderstanding. "It was easy – you hardly keep the place locked up properly. It was so easy for me to break the lock – just a flick of the wrist, really, and we were in your apartment. Took Ayame quite a while to search through your clothes, though…"

Naruto was twitching all over and red in the face. Balling her fists, she shouted, "Aarghh!" and dropped into her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting sulkily.

Tsunade grinned at her. "Be at Iruka's house by four pm tomorrow. The girls will meet you there."

"Hn," was Naruto's sulky reply.

Tsunade smirked. "You sounded just like your husband-to-be."

Naruto glared at her, and stuck her tongue out before going back to her sulky pose.

Tsunade chuckled, entertained by Naruto's antics. She felt refreshed just by the girl's presence after a long day of troublesome paperwork. Deciding to wipe the sulk off her face, she asked, "So how was Suna?"

Naruto instantly became animated. "Suna was great!" she exclaimed, hands flaying around. "Kujira-sensei got me this awesome katana that channels chakra," here she lifted Sasayaki for Tsunade's inspection, "and I don't have to pay a thing! Kujira-sensei and Gaara paid for everything! Kujira-sensei even got me a belt to tie Sasayaki to. And both Sasayaki and the belt have the Uzumaki spiral, and you can't do anything about it! Blppphhtt!" She blew Tsunade a raspberry.

Tsunade, meanwhile, was examining the katana carefully, noting the obviously expertly forged blade, the beautiful calligraphy on it, and the red glass Uzumaki spiral that served as the hilt-guard. She ran her fingers over the carefully carved spiral pattern of the scabbard. It was definitely an expensive weapon, made with much care.

"It's a beautiful weapon. Deadly and beautiful. Gaara and your sensei paid for everything, you say?" murmured Tsunade. She noticed Naruto's expression turning serious, so she sheathed the katana and handed it back to its owner, who carefully rested in on her lap, then pulled off her right glove. Tsunade immediately noticed the bead bracelet that sparkled in the lights of her office. Naruto unclasped the bracelet and handed it over to Tsunade, who could guess the significance of the bead colours right away.

"Gaara gave it to me as a birthday present," Naruto informed her. "He said the beads are glass, made from the sand in his gourd."

Tsunade's eyebrows shot up. "The sand in his gourd? Isn't that something very dear to him? Keimei, do you understand the significance of this –"

"He asked me to marry him," Naruto cut in quietly, looking away. Tsunade was shocked. "He said he loved me, and he asked me to marry him."

The Hokage swallowed heavily as she returned the bracelet to Naruto, who fastened it around her right wrist and pulled her glove on over it.

"And your reply?" she asked slowly.

"I turned him down, Tsunade-obaachan. I told him I didn't have feelings for him in that way. I love him, but only as my best friend." Naruto looked up, her eyes tearing slightly. "It broke his heart, I could see that clearly. I told him everything about the Council's plan and Sasuke."

Tsunade was still trying to wrap her mind around the news.

"It would never have worked, anyway. Politically, I mean. The Kazekage and the future Hokage – don't see that happening," Naruto continued, a small, sad smile on her face. "He understands. That's what I love about Gaara – he understands me so well, and I understand him so well. I don't think it could be that way with Sasuke, huh?" The last part was whispered, and Tsunade almost didn't catch it. Her heart clenched at the obvious distress of the girl in front of her.

"He was so sweet that night. He took me to dinner in a really nice restaurant – the kind that would probably not allow me in, in Konoha – and gave me a desert rose, then we went to the roof of the tallest building in Suna and watched the stars, and then he proposed," Naruto smiled distantly at the memory.

And it struck Tsunade – it was like a daughter telling her mother about her first date. Tsunade's heart clenched even more at the realization that Naruto probably didn't have anyone to tell these kind of stories to, to ask for mother-daughter dating advice…

"Funny, isn't it, Tsunade-obaachan? I decide to agree to the Council's marriage plan, and _then_ I get an honest, heart-felt proposal from someone who actually cares. Kinda overwhelming, you know? And to think that before this I never gave a second thought to marriage, knowing that no one would want _me_," Naruto said somewhat bitterly. She rubbed away the tears that were threatening to fall. "This is what I hate about releasing the henge – I get all girly and cry so easily."

She smiled weakly at Tsunade, who got up from her chair, walked around her paper-cluttered desk and lifted Naruto into a gentle, comforting hug.

"It's ok to cry, Keimei," she murmured, stroking the blonde hair under her chin. Naruto clung to Tsunade pathetically. Her shoulders shook soundlessly for a few moments, but she didn't cry.

"Thanks, Tsunade-obaachan. You're so good to me," Naruto said softly. "Don't worry, though. Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on her word – that's my nindo. I'll marry Sasuke as a mission to keep the Sharingan in Konoha, although I don't know if I could actually produce babies..."

Tsunade released Naruto and leaned back on the edge of her desk. "I know you'll do your best, Keimei. And you know I don't give a damn about the babies. But you'd better make sure you stay safe, ok? You can talk to me about anything, you hear? My door is always open to you."

"Heh! I'd kick it open even if it wasn't," grinned Naruto. Tsunade was glad to see her getting back her spirit, but she had to ask.

"If you didn't have to marry Sasuke, would you have married the Kazekage?" she queried softly.

Naruto looked away for a moment, then looked Tsunade in the eye. "I did think about that, Tsunade-obaachan. It was really tempting, and I think I could fall in love with him after we got married. And I think that I'd be happy even if I didn't love him that way in return," Naruto replied, and took a breath. "But the answer would still have been a no. I don't love Gaara that way. He's my closest, best friend. And the future Hokage can't marry the Kazekage anyway. How'd I be Hokage then?" she grinned.

By that answer, Tsunade could see Naruto's obvious want for affection – the want to belong, to love someone, to have someone love her. To have a family. She could also see that self-sacrificing spirit that Naruto had, and her love for Konoha, and for Uchiha – whether it was romantic love or brotherly love, she couldn't tell. And Naruto herself was obviously not too sure about it either.

This was confirmation of the appropriateness of Tsunade's decision to appoint Naruto the Rokudaime after her. Her mind had been made up a long time ago, from the time she first met the girl, and this just affirmed her convictions that Naruto was the right person for the job – someone who could lay aside personal interests for the sake of the village. Just as Sarutobi-sensei had told her a long time ago – the name Hokage was a promise to die to protect the Leaf. She hoped fervently that it wouldn't have to come to that for Naruto, but she knew that if it did come to that, Naruto would be more than willing.

She sighed loudly as she glanced at the clock. It was almost eight in the evening – nearly time for her to officiate the festival. Grimacing, she turned to Naruto.

"Keimei, I've to go to the festival soon."

Naruto's face fell for a second, before she forced herself to smile. "Right!" she said a tad too cheerfully. Tsunade winced.

"I need to go, anyways. Kinda tired after almost three days of travelling. See you tomorrow, obaachan!"

Naruto tied Sasayaki to her belt, then gave Tsunade a wave with obviously forced cheerfulness. She turned and moved to go out the door.

"Keimei." Tsunade called out. Naruto turned slowly. "Yeah?"

Tsunade smiled fondly. "Happy birthday. Sarutobi-sensei would have been proud of you. Your father and mother would have been proud, too. I'm sure they are. Jiraiya and I are proud of you too."

Naruto's head dropped, and her hair hid her face from Tsunade's view. She was gripping her katana hard with her right hand, and her left hand was balled into a tight fist. After a few moments, she raised her head, and Tsunade could see her beautiful blue eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Thank you," she whispered, and disappeared out the door.

Xx

Xx

Naruto watched the remnants of the festival from her favourite spot in Konoha – on the stone head of the Yondaime Hokage. She did this every year that she was in Konoha during the festival. The Yondaime was her hero, even though he did seal the Kyuubi into her, and thus made her life hell. Well, the hell was becoming better and better as she made more friends to add to her list of precious people. Besides, she understood that he had to do what he had done in order to save the village. But she often wondered what was it that made him choose her.

Better her than someone else, she supposed.

Cerulean blue eyes gazed out over the village she loved. She always felt at peace on the Yondaime's head, for reasons she couldn't explain. Looking at the blinking lights of buildings and lanterns, she believed she could identify with the Yondaime's love for Konoha, that he would be willing to lay down his life for the people he protected.

Her thoughts drifted – what changes she wanted to make when she became Hokage (she wanted to beef up the Shinobi Academy curriculum, and find a way to upgrade security at Konoha's perimeters. No way she wanted people like Itachi and Kisame sneaking in like they did six years ago), her plans to forge more alliances (she was thinking of Kiri – perhaps Wave Country could put in a good word?), and finally, her thoughts turned toward her 'marriage mission', as she preferred to think of it.

Now, as she thought more of having to be married to Sasuke, Gaara's proposal became more and more appealing. Gaara's feelings towards her were real. Sasuke... called her his best friend right before trying to kill him, then plunged a chidori in her chest (the scar, though faded, wouldn't go away, for some reason), and almost killed her again. The final time, it had taken Kabuto and Orochimaru to sway him from his 'whim'. She shuddered with repulsion at the thought that she actually owed her life to them.

Sasuke would never think of her in any other way than as Itachi-bait, she could tell. She knew it, from the calculating look in his eye that she had caught when he was presented with the Council's idea. She was very disappointed, and sad, that Sasuke had not a drop of affection for her. Of course, she wasn't expecting him to declare his undying love for her – the very idea was so ridiculous she almost burst out laughing.

But it hurt that he didn't regard her as a friend, even. And she had trained so hard to make sure she was strong enough to bring him back. Well, it turned out he didn't need her, after all. He had killed Orochimaru, and had almost killed Itachi. He was strong enough on his own – he didn't need her. He just saw her, marriage to her, as a short-cut to obtaining what he wanted.

And it hurt.

Naruto rubbed hard at her eyes. _Kami-sama, I'm starting to cry like a girl. I hate getting all soft and emotional like this. It's bad enough that Sasuke thinks I'm weak – I don't need to go around crying about feelings and proving to him that I'm weak_.

Breathing deeply a few times, she opened her eyes and noticed that many of the lights were out, and Konoha was almost in total darkness. _The festival is over, _she thought. _Safe for me to go home, then._

Bringing her left hand to her chin in a half ram seal, she shunshin-ed to the bottom of the Hokage Monument. Turning back to look at the Yondaime's face, she lifted her hand and made a motion as if to grasp at his face. _Look over me. I'll make you proud._

She let her hand stay that way for a second, then dropped it at her side and quietly made her way back to her apartment. As she trudged along the streets with her hands in her pockets, she imagined feeling a pair of eyes on her back, following her as she walked. Quickly, she spread her senses, but didn't find anyone suspicious. There were too many people in the houses lining the street she was in for her to eliminate in order to narrow down the suspects, so she just chalked up the feeling to her imagination. But the prickling at the back of her neck didn't go away.

More wary now, she continued at a faster pace than before though she kept her gaze down on the road. She and could feel a group of weak chakra signatures nearby. Probably civilians going home after the festival, she reasoned. Hopefully it wasn't –

'Yare yare. If it isn't the Kyuubi no youkai itself," growled a menacing voice. Naruto squeezed her eyes shut for a second, then lifted her face to look at the person who spoke.

A beefy man blocked was leaning against the wall corner that lead into a dark alley. Directly in front of her were a group of about eight men, some holding broken beer bottles, large pieces of wood, or metal pipes.

Naruto sighed in resignation. It was basically the same group that would search her out and beat her up almost every year. She managed to avoid them on her ninth and twelfth birthday, as well as during the time she hadn't been in Konoha, but she quickly realized that it meant the next year's beatings would get worse. And some of the men tried to force themselves onto her, too, not caring that she had been in her male form at those times.

When she was young, they'd let her go with just beatings and kicks, but when she came back to Konoha in time for her fifteenth birthday after her two and a half year training trip with Ero-Sennin, they'd try to molest her, too. She was eternally thankful she'd gotten Ero-Sennin to teach her a simple genjutsu that she'd cast to make them think they were having their way with her, even though it thoroughly repulsed her. It was a genjutsu simple enough that she could do it flawlessly even though she sucked at genjutsu.

She ignored the taunts and angry curses of the men as they beat her up. She didn't retaliate – she knew their grief was real, and that grief could turn into hatred and anger – Sasuke more than proved that. If she was the outlet for their grief, then so be it. Better her getting the brunt of their frustration than some innocent civilian.

The blonde bit her lip to stop from crying out at the pain. She had learnt that crying or screaming would only encourage her attackers. They'd used weapons this time. Probably since they couldn't vent their anger last year since she had been in Suna.

Thinking of Suna made her think of Gaara, of her surprise birthday party last year. Of how happy she'd been. Of how wonderful Gaara was to her. Of her birthday present from him this year. She clung desperately to those pleasant memories amidst the hail of punches, beatings, kicks, and even urine as some of the men relieved themselves on her. Through it all, the sensation of being watched stayed with her, and she was sure it wasn't coming from the men beating her up.

Out of the corner of a painfully swollen eye, she noticed that the leader – the beefy man who'd accosted her – was popping a tent in his crotch, and was massaging it. It was her cue to start the genjutsu. Painfully, she drew up her bruised and bleeding arms to her chest and ran through a few handseals, and whispered the name of the genjutsu.

Immediately, the rain of attacks stopped, and her attackers crashed to the ground around her. One even fell across her legs. Wincing all the way, and biting her already bleeding lip, she kicked him off and pushed herself to her knees, and almost cried out at the pain. Forcing herself to ignore the throbbing, aches and stinging sensations shooting throughout her body, she dragged herself to her feet, and slowly started in the direction of her apartment, spitting out blood every now and then.

Naruto reached her apartment after a torturous climb up the stairs of her apartment building. Most of the time she loved having an apartment on the highest floor, because of the view, but right now it sucked, having to drag herself up the stairs, leaning on the wall nearly all the way. She tiredly fished the keys out of her pants pocket, unlocked the door, and relocked it behind her. She trudged to her bed and took off her jacket, grimacing in pain as the material dragged over her bleeding wounds and throbbing bruises. She sat down on the bed and stretched out carefully, trying to find a position that minimized the pain.

Already she could feel the Kyuubi's chakra starting to heal the smaller cuts and bumps. It was probably healing the larger wounds too, although those always took a longer time. At least they didn't break her bones. She always wondered why, but never stopped to ask them.

She was stinking and bleeding, and probably had wood and glass splinters in her hair and skin, but she was in too tired and in too much pain to care about how her sheets would be dirtied. She'd just wash them tomorrow.

Closing her swollen and bruised eyes rather painfully, she allowed the numbness of sleep to overtake her senses. But she couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched through her window.

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Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated :-) 


	5. Chapter 5  A New Name and a New Symbol

**The Author Says:** Apologies for the slightly late update. I accidentally left my thumbdrive containing the fic with a friend last weekend, and only got it back today. Gave me quite a fright, actually, coz until today, the only copy of the fic i have was in the thumbdrive. I've learned my lesson, and have saved it into my PC as well. So here's chapter 5! Oh, and thanks so very much for all the reviews! I love reading and replying to them. Please leave a signed review if you would like me to reply :-)

U/L: 10th November 2007.

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**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 5 – A New Name and a New Symbol**

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Iruka arrived home from his job at the Missions Room to find that Naruto had not arrived, and Hinata was on the verge of going out to look for her. 

"It's been almost an hour!" worried Ayame.

Iruka frowned. "Naruto is never late."

"Which is why we're worried," Hinata said quietly. She'd gotten over her stutter, and blushed less. Naruto had helped her with that as they trained together, sometimes with Neji.

Iruka frowned again, and rubbed the scar on the bridge of his nose. His wife, Ayame – the daughter of Teuchi the owner of Ichiraku Ramen – bit her lip.

"I hope nothing happened to her, seeing as yesterday was...," she trailed off nervously.

"Yesterday?" asked Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's older sister. "What's the significance of yesterday?"

Iruka's eyes widened a little. "The festival. I hope no one got to her –"

Hana swore under her breath. "I forgot about her birthday!"

The brown-haired man made his way to the door, saying, "I'll go look for her."

Halfway across the hall, though, a loud knock sounded on the door. Iruka rushed to the door and yanked it open to show a sheepish Naruto standing there in a simple loose long-sleeved orange t-shirt and grey long pants.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. "Got carried away doing laundry." Which was true – she'd been washing her bloodied sheets and clothes. She had woken up at noon, sore all over, and had to take a long bathe to get rid of the stench that seemed to stick to her skin, and then she had done her laundry.

Iruka placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in, shutting the door behind her. He didn't notice her wince at his grasp. "You made us worried, Naruto! How could you forget about something as important as this?" he chided her. She just laughed sheepishly, murmuring a "Sumimasen, sensei."

Ayame and Hana latched on to her and propelled her into the spare bedroom in the house, dragged Hinata in, and kicked Iruka out when he tried to make sure Naruto was alright. They locked the door the moment the tried to enter again.

"Change into this, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, holding up a bundle of white and orange cloth. She handed the white cloth to Naruto first.

Taking it from the Hyuuga, the blonde found it was a white under-kimono. She grimaced a little, not being overly fond of women's kimonos. Biting her lip, she draped the under-kimono over Hinata's head, making her splutter and Hana laugh, and shucked off her t-shirt and pants. She was used to being naked with other boys when she had been a boy, so she hadn't any qualms about undressing in front of girls.

"What's the matter, Hinata-chan?" she teased when she noticed her friend blushing. "You have everything I have."

Hana laughed again. Ayame caught sight of something sparkling brilliantly on Naruto's wrist. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "That is a beautiful bracelet, Naruto!"

The other girls oohed and aahed at it, and Hana caught Naruto's wrist and dragged her closer to examine the bracelet.

"My best friend gave it to me for my birthday," she explained, a small, fond smile on her face. Hinata noticed something else on the Naruto's arms. And it seemed they weren't only on the arms. She quickly dispelled the weak genjutsu covering them.

"Naruto? Are those bruises? And scabs?!" she asked, coming closer to the blonde, who was dressed in only her bra and panties. Naruto quickly moved away from the woman.

"They're nothing, really, Hinata-chan," she said quickly. A little too quickly, it seemed, because Hana frowned and pulled her even nearer.

"Those are fresh, Naruto. Even for someone who heals as fast as you, I can tell they're fresh wounds. What happened?" she asked, gripping the blonde's shoulder to prevent her from moving away, then quickly releasing her grasp as Naruto winced. Hana noticed bruises and scabs along her arms as well.

"They're nothing. Nothing happened," she insisted, grabbing the under-kimono from Hinata and putting it on quickly. She sat on the bed as she clumsily tried to arrange the folds of the cloth.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped. "Your scalp has traces of dried blood!"

Naruto frowned, and the girls came closer to inspect it, similar frowns on their faces. The blonde ran a hand through her hair and winced. "I thought I had washed out all the blood," she muttered.

Hana narrowed her eyes. "Naruto, what's the meaning of this? And don't try to tell us it's nothing!"

Naruto kept quiet and looked away. Hinata sat beside her on the bed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed. "It's nothing, really. It's just something that happens every year, and it'll heal. I've forgotten about it already." She looked up. "Can we please get on with the dressing? I was already an hour late."

Hana growled. "Some people beat you up last night, didn't they? Because of the Kyuubi?"

Naruto took the orange cloth from Hinata and shook it out. It was a beautiful kimono that started out in her favourite bright shade of orange at the top, and slowly faded into a creamy peach colour by the waist, and white at the lower hem. A continuous cloud-like pattern was embroidered in gold thread from lower bust to mid-thigh. On the back and over the left breast was embroidered a symbol Naruto recognized as a modified Uchiha fan. The original shape of the fan had been retained, but it was now all white in colour, and in the middle of the line dividing the two halves of the Uchiha fan was the red Uzumaki spiral. Together, they represented the new Uchiha-Uzumaki name. The red of the Uzumaki spiral contrasted well with the white of the Uchiha fan, which in turn stood out on the bright orange of the cloth where the symbol had been stitched.

"Yes to both questions, Hana-neechan," she muttered, and then continued, disregarding the earlier conversation, "at least the kimono is orange. I was so afraid they'd stick me in pink. Can you imagine? Pink?" she shuddered, not noticing the look Hana shot Ayame, who quietly slipped out of the room.

"Alright, Naruto, put it on quickly, then we can work on your makeup and hair," Hana instructed briskly, ignoring Naruto's screeching about having to use makeup.

The blonde grumbled the whole way through as the girls arranged the folds of the kimono, tied on the obi and started on her hair and makeup. They didn't bring up the issue of her injuries again, though she did notice that they were being extra gentle with her. She thought they had understood her obvious reluctance to discuss the subject. She had noticed Ayame returning to the room with a half-satisfied, half-worried look on her face. The woman just explained that she went to check on Iruka when Naruto questioned her reappearance.

Finally, an hour and fifteen minutes later, after much protest and grumbling (from Naruto), irritated exclamations (Ayame), threats (Hana) and exasperated sighs (Hinata), the bride was finally ready. The other three girls stood back to admire their handiwork.

"You look beautiful, Naruto!" gushed Ayame, wringing her hands in front of her chest. Hana had a big grin on her face, and Hinata was smiling sweetly.

"I'm a shinobi, I don't do beautiful," Naruto grumbled as she looked away, a slight smile on her face and faint pink on her cheeks.

"You are beautiful, Naruto-kun," Hinata stated quietly, and stepped forward to take her friend's hands in hers. "I really hope you'll be happy with Sasuke," she whispered into Naruto's ears.

Naruto's heart clenched, but she turned to Hinata with a smile plastered on her face. _It's a mission, and I will do my best for the mission. Feelings and girly desires for affection will not interfere with my mission._

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," she whispered. Hana slapped her on the back.

"Don't see what you see in that boy, but I wish you all the best, eh?" she said jovially. She also received a plastered-on smile.

Ayame steered her out of the room and into the hallway, where there was a full-length mirror. "Have a look at yourself, Naruto," she said with a smile.

Naruto almost didn't recognize the figure reflected in the glass if it wasn't for the bright yellow hair, cerulean blue eyes and whisker-marks on the cheeks. She had insisted they not cover those up – to remind the Council, and Sasuke, exactly who she was. She wasn't some girl off the street, or a random kunoichi. She was Uzumaki Keimei Naruto, vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and future Hokage of Konoha.

The figure in the mirror had her yellow hair done up in an elaborate bun behind her head that Naruto could feel rather than see. A few yellow strands of hair hung down to frame her face gently. They hadn't used too much foundation or powder, so her light tan was still visible. Her lips were red, a deep, sensuous red that suited her light tan colouration well. The kimono was simple, a thing for which she was very thankful. It wasn't as elaborate as Ayame-neechan's had been during her and Iruka-sensei's wedding. The orange of the kimono suited her well, and she quite liked the way the colour faded to white at the bottom.

Her new name symbol (it wasn't quite a clan yet, so she refused to call it a clan symbol) stood out on her chest, right over her heart. Bringing up her right hand, she delicately traced the outlines of the fan and the red spiral with three fingers. The girls were quiet behind her.

Ayame put her hands on Naruto's shoulders from behind. "See, Naruto? You are pretty. I wish you a happy marriage as well." The brunette smiled at the reflection.

"Where's Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked after an awkward moment (on her part, at least), wanting to get off the subject.

"Oh, he went to see Hokage-sama about yo-" Ayame cut herself off, and slapped a hand over her mouth. Naruto narrowed her eyes at Ayame's reflection in the mirror, becoming suspicious at the way she'd clammed up. Why did Iruka-sensei need to go see Tsunade-obaachan now? Wouldn't he be seeing her later at the wedding? Then it clicked.

Naruto spun around. "He went to tell Tsunade-obaachan about my bruises, didn't he? You told him and he went to tell her!" she accused. Ayame tried to say something, but Naruto continued, "I told you it was nothing – it's all healed already! I can take care of myself! Just because I'm a girl now doesn't make me weak!"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata started.

"Naruto," Hana said.

Naruto scowled angrily at them, and without another word, shunshin-ed away.

Xx

Xx

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't just string you up by your intestines right now," growled a thoroughly mad Tsunade from her desk.

Her killing intent flooded her office, joining the atmosphere already thickened by Jiraiya's, Iruka's and two full ANBU squad's killing intent. The nine men tied up on the floor in front of her cowered, and some began to wet themselves.

Iruka had rushed in one and a half hours earlier, fuming and looking ready to kill someone. The only time Tsunade had seen him like that was when Naruto had been brought in almost dead by Kakashi after her fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End. He had blurted out how his wife, Hana and Hinata had found multiple fresh injuries on Naruto, and how he suspected she'd received them last night, and why she'd been beaten up, based on yesterday's date. Tsunade had gone pale with fury, and had dispatched two ANBU squads – one under Yamato, and another under Neji, a new captain – to find the guilty men, and gotten a messenger to round up Jiraiya at the onsen.

They had dragged in the nine men about fifteen minutes ago, finding them easily because they had been boasting about giving the Kyuubi what he deserved. Cowards that were, they had broken down after only ten minutes of questioning by the Sannin, the ANBU captains, and a furious Academy sensei. Tsunade had to admit Iruka had been very intimidating. Probably from his experience dealing with chibi ninjas-to-be.

"I should just turn you into a bloody stain on the floor!" she shouted, standing to tower over her desk. "For twelve years you've been beating up the hero of Konoha, the legacy of the Yondaime, and the future Hokage! You've been torturing the one person I consider to be like a younger sister!" She punched her table and a loud crack was heard as a corner of the wood broke off and fell to the floor.

"F-f-for-forgive us, H-hokage-s-sama! We b-beg your m-mercy!" cried one of the men, and the others nodded furiously in agreement.

Tsunade snorted.

"Did you show any mercy to Naruto?" asked Jiraiya coldly. "Why should we show any mercy to you?"

At that, almost all of the men began to wail for mercy. Tsunade massaged her temples. She was very tempted to smash her foot in their faces and grind down hard, and she could tell Jiraiya, Yamato, Neji and Iruka were itching to do damage as well after they'd heard how Naruto had been attacked every October tenth that she'd been in Konoha. Tsunade felt sick to her stomach. Naruto had probably been beaten up only hours after she left her office last night.

"I'm not inclined to forgive you assholes," she hissed, and the men began to wail louder. "Silence!" she shouted. "Did you know that today is her wedding day?" she continued, her voice tight. "I'm not going to show any mercy. In fact, since you've broken the Sandaime's rule, you should know the punishment that breaking his rule entails. As such, I'm going to sentence you to dea-"

"Tsunade-obaachan!" came a shout as the door to her office burst open.

The Hokage looked up to see a dressed-up figure in orange fly into the room and stop in front of her.

"Keimei? Naruto? What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked, her anger dissipating somewhat. Ignoring dazed exclamations about her gender by the men on the floor, the younger blonde turned to Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei! Why'd you have to tell Tsunade-obaachan?" she said angrily. Iruka frowned at her.

"These men have been abusing you for years, Naruto! It's about time someone did something about it! I would have reported it to the Hokage years ago if I had known!" Iruka said vehemently.

"I'm not a weakling, Iruka-sensei!" shouted Naruto. "I can take care of myself!"

"By getting beat up?" questioned Jiraiya in a cold tone. Naruto turned to him.

"Yes, by getting beat up," she said in a low but intense tone. "Because, if they release their frustrations on me, then they won't go beating up someone who might actually die because of what they do."

Jiraiya swallowed thickly and turned away from Naruto's intense gaze. Tsunade's voice caught in her throat, and tears started to form in her eyes. Naruto was self-sacrificing, but this was too much.

"That may be true, Naruto, but you could have reported it to the Hokage yourself and let the law handle them," one of the ANBU spoke up. Naruto recognized Yamato-taichou's voice.

"I know the Sandaime's rule, Yamato-taichou, and I know what the punishment for breaking it is. I can't allow someone to die because they're grieved over losing their precious people to the Kyuubi's attack. How will their families live, then, if their breadwinners are executed?" Naruto said in a calmer tone. She had drawn herself up, and was standing straight as she looked Yamato in the eye. Or rather, in the eye-holes of his mask.

Iruka couldn't help but note how Naruto seemed to radiate authority and compassion even as she stood arguing for the people who abused her. The fancy hairdo, makeup and feminine kimono didn't detract from the obvious charisma she overflowed with. Iruka had never seen her like this – not during the Academy, and not during the time after she returned from her training trip with Jiraiya-sama. He had never seen her talk calmly and seriously like this before either. He wondered what else Naruto was hiding.

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto, you're being too nice. These people have _abused_ you! Had they abused anyone else, they'd be punished as the law dictates. And since they abused you, they will be punished as the law dictates, too. And that punishment is death. They knew that much when they started to even think of laying a finger on you. They were foolish enough to rely on your niceness, but now is their turn to receive their punishment, just like every other criminal. They are responsible for their actions."

"Every other criminal, Tsunade-sama?" Naruto asked. Tsunade winced at her calm tone and respectful address, knowing that the blonde was probably pushing her emotions and pretended idiocy aside to try and rationalize with her.

"If that is so, then perhaps Uchiha Sasuke should be punished by death for his defection, as well," Naruto continued, narrowing her eyes at Tsunade.

Tsunade flushed angrily. "Mind your words, Keimei. First of all, it was not my decision to pardon him, and in the way that the pardon was carried out. Secondly, had I sentenced Uchiha to death, you would have definitely come begging me to let him live," she growled. To her surprise, Naruto looked unflustered, and a little pleased, even.

"Exactly, Tsunade-sama. I would have come begging for you to reconsider had Sasuke been sentenced to death. Aren't I doing the same now?" she said. Tsunade didn't answer, and waited for her to continue, which she did, in a gentler tone. "Tsunade-sama, you know more than anyone that I truly want to become Hokage. As such, I can't bring myself to allow these men to be put to death over this. Perhaps it was a mistake on my part to not have reported the… incidents earlier, but my convictions are such that I love the village, I care for the people the Yondaime gave his life for, and I want to show them that I am not the Kyuubi, merely the vessel. How can I prove that if everyone who acts out their Kyuubi-caused grief and frustration are put to death?"

The room was quiet.

"I know I have no say in deciding their punishments, but I would ask that you consider my request to at least stay the death punishment, and punish them in such a way that their ability to provide for their families is not affected. I know what it is like not to have family, not to have a father, or brother, and I do not wish anyone to experience that sorrow because of me."

It was so still you could hear a feather drop.

Tsunade's brows were furrowed, and she was frowning hard at Naruto. Finally, she sighed and turned to the men on the floor.

"Listen here, asswipes," she bit out. "You'd better thank Naruto she came here in time to stop me from making your punishment official, because then you'd be as good as dead. You worthless scum, people like you are a shame to Konoha! The very person you abuse is the one to stand up for you, because _she_ pities _you_! Because she cares for _your_ families!"

Angrily, Tsunade turned to the ANBU. "Get them out of my sight. I'll deal with their punishment later."

The men, especially the leader, scrambled to their knees and bowed low to Naruto, profuse in their thanks.

"Think of your precious people before you decide to do something," the younger blonde said quietly. "That's what keeps me strong." She nodded to the ANBU. Seven out of the eight ordered and escorted the men out of the Hokage's office. Naruto recognized the one who stayed as Neji, by his mask.

"I need to get the floor cleaned," Tsunade muttered, wrinkling her nose as she eyed the area where the men had been. The Hokage sank tiredly into her chair. Looking up, she turned to Naruto.

"Why didn't you report this, Keimei?" she asked angrily. Naruto sighed.

"I've already stated my reasons, Tsunade-sama."

"Your reasons are good, but you should still have reported the abuse earlier! What if they decided to torture you even further? Break your bones? Or even kill you?"

Naruto's eyes blazed. "I may be a girl now, Tsunade-sama, but I'm not weak," she hissed. "I can take care of myself."

Tsunade opened her mouth to reply to that, but Neji spoke up quietly.

"No, you're not weak, Naruto. Just stupid."

Naruto trembled in anger as she narrowed her eyes at Neji, who continued, unfazed.

"Stupid, because you care too much for others to the point you forget to care about yourself. You forget that you are human as well; you forget that even though you are a shinobi, you can still break. You can still end up hurt, physically or mentally."

Neji stepped towards the door. "You taught me how to care for others again, Naruto. Perhaps it is time you learned to care for yourself." He opened the door. "If you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to attend," he said, saying the word 'wedding' with slight emphasis, and left.

The room was quiet for a while after Neji left.

Finally, Jiraiya sighed wearily. "It was genjutsu, wasn't it, Naruto? The one that you asked me to teach you during our training?"

Naruto, whose gaze had become affixed to the floor, nodded silently after a pause.

Jiraiya exhaled noisily. "I thought so when those scum said they always woke up on the floor, seemingly passed out, after they 'molested' the Kyuubi _boy_."

Iruka frowned and stepped closer to Naruto from where he'd been standing silently by the wall. "If you used genjutsu to fool them into thinking they were... molesting you, then why didn't you use genjutsu to make them think they were beating you up? Why endure it?"

Naruto's eyes moved elsewhere but still kept to the floor and didn't answer.

Tsunade's heart felt like it dropped into her intestines when she realized the answer. "You... actually want to be beaten up, don't you, Keimei?" she said softly and slowly.

Iruka looked incredulously at her. "Nani? Tsunade-sama, surely you don't mean that Naruto willingly let herself be tortured? Why would she do that..." he trailed off as he seemed to realize the answer to that question.

"You still feel guilty, don't you? You feel that it's wrong for you to live because of the Kyuubi inside you, right? You felt worse because of that one time the Kyuubi got out of hand and hurt Sakura," Tsunade said, staring anxiously at Naruto, who still didn't say anything.

"Naruto..." Iruka's voice almost broke. He stepped nearer to her and put both his hands on her shoulders. "Naruto, you're not responsible for what the Kyuubi did before it got sealed into you. You haven't let the Kyuubi overtake you ever since then. You've become strong by your own effort and strength, not the Kyuubi's." He placed a thumb under Naruto's chin and gently pushed her head up, and felt anger at the hollow look in her eyes. "Naruto, listen to me. You are NOT the Kyuubi. You don't have to be punished for something you didn't do, you hear me?"

A spark of something flickered in her blue eyes for a second, but overall the hollowness remained. She didn't acknowledge what he had said, even though it had touched her.

Tsunade couldn't get her words out, and sat silently behind her desk. Jiraiya stared out the window nonchalantly, but his hands were balled into fists as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Iruka sighed. He put a gentle arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, I'll bring Naruto to the Tower's rooftop in half an hour. I need to get her home first to make sure she's fully ready."

Tsunade nodded dumbly. Jiraiya didn't respond.

The Academy sensei guided Naruto out the office, then shunshin-ed to his home. Naruto just followed mechanically.

Xx

Xx

The two Elders of the Council smirked smugly as they observed the wedding ceremony from their seats of honour. The heads of the clans sat with them. Many had been surprised at the union, and most attended out of incredulity and curiousity.

The bride seemed demure. Koharu had been worried that she'd kick up a fuss and create a scene, considering her temperament and usual behaviour. The old lady wondered what Tsunade did to ensure she stayed quiet throughout the ceremony. Perhaps she'd been lightly drugged?

Didn't matter, as long as the two were married. The Uchiha looked fine and imposing in his midnight blue kimono and white obi. Koharu mentally chuckled. She bet that Fugaku brat would turn in his grave if he knew the last Uchiha (the one that mattered, anyway) was marrying the Kyuubi no gaki. He'd be rolling to know that the clan was now the Uchiha-Uzumaki clan, and their Uchiha fan had been 'defiled' by the Uzumaki spiral sitting prominently in the centre of the symbol.

Koharu frowned. She and Homura hadn't been happy to find out that that Tsunade had gone behind their backs and changed the clan name and symbol without discussing it with them. Blatant disrespect of their authority. But then again, she'd been disrespectful of them from the start. It still galled the two ancient Elders that Tsunade came back because of Naruto and not because they had summoned her, that she'd lost her precious necklace to the kid, and that she'd practically promised the position of Rokudaime to her.

Homura thought that the Uchiha would make a better Rokudaime, but Koharu disagreed. The boy did betray Konoha and run to Orochimaru, of all people. It showed that he was weak – too weak to fight the curse seal. Whereas the girl had the Kyuubi under control all the while, and her thoughts had never turned to revenge against Konoha.

Koharu snapped out of her thoughts, and refocused on the ceremony. The Uzumaki girl was strong. She seemed to take a lot after her father and mother, those brats. In a way, Koharu was glad that Tsunade had kept the Uzumaki name, and waited for when her father's name would be known as well.

The female Elder watched as the new couple drank sake from the same saucer.

Xx

Xx

Sasuke watched his… bride curiously under an expressionless facade. Naruto was too quiet, and seemed to be doing everything mechanically. Her eyes were clouded over, and her expression – demure to everyone else – was hollow and blank to those who knew her well.

He had been rather stunned to see her in the orange kimono. She had looked like she was floating on a cloud, since the bottom of the kimono was white in colour. He had felt his heart start to grow warm at the sight of Naruto so... womanly. Sasuke had immediately crushed that warm feeling.

But the red lipstick looked good on her.

The Hokage, who was officiating their wedding, was also rather distracted, although she didn't make any mistakes. He had noticed the same distractedness and what seemed like sorrow and anxiety on Jiraiya's and Iruka's faces.

He discreetly turned his focus back to Naruto. He'd been floored, even though he hadn't shown it, to find out that Naruto was a girl. A flush threatened to form as he remembered that they'd gone naked together to the onsen when they were genin. And they'd sometimes share the same tent or room if the mission required them to do so. He wondered if Naruto had even known she was a girl back then. Probably not, he decided. The boy… girl couldn't act to save her life.

Sasuke wondered where Naruto's thoughts were. Possibly on the beating she had gotten last night? He had watched coolly as his fiancée got abused by the group of men. He didn't particularly care about her, and kept repressing a twinge of guilt that nagged at him to stop them. He almost gave in, but she had started a genjutsu (he had seen it through his Sharingan), and had painfully dragged herself home.

He had decided to follow her home. All the way home, till the time she'd collapsed into bed without cleaning herself or changing, she hadn't seemed to realize he had been following her.

Why the heck was he even concerned about her well-being?

Probably because she was his ticket to killing Itachi. Yeah, that was probably it – Naruto needed to be alive in order to be Itachi-bait. He'd probably gotten pissed at the men because they were trying to diminish his chance at avenging his parents and clan.

His eyes caught sight of the new Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol on her kimono and frowned mentally. He had been furious when Kakashi had appeared in his new apartment with his new clothes, and found that they all bore the new clan symbol. Only then did he realize he half-remembered that the Hokage had mentioned the new clan name. He remembered he hadn't paid attention because the Hokage had mentioned it was just after she'd dropped the bomb about his ex-teammate's… soon-to-be wife's real gender.

_It's all for the sake of killing Itachi._ He'd divorce the dobe, get back the Uchiha name and symbol, and find the least irritating female in Konoha, and revive his clan after he killed Itachi.

The Hokage's voice floated through his thoughts, saying something about exchanging rings and kissing the bride. He pulled himself out of his daze, and prepared to just do it mechanically for appearance's sake. Make the Council relics happy, and he would have the chance to kill Itachi.

The Hokage's voice also seemed to pull Naruto out of her daze, and Sasuke saw a parade of emotions cross her face for an instant before she schooled it into neutrality. But her eyes couldn't hide her real emotions. Those expressive, beautiful blue eyes that could only belong to Uzumaki Naruto were showing determination, sorrow and… fear?

_Fear of what? And what was she sad about? Last night's incident?_ he wondered as he calmly lifted her lightly trembling hand and slipped the ring on, and allowed her to do the same for him. Then he brought his head nearer to her, looking her in the eye. He could see her tense and almost back away. It was not last night's incident, then. But he couldn't tell what brought about the fear and sorrow.

Quickly, he tilted his head slightly and chastely brushed his lips against hers. It was the faintest of contacts, but she had tensed as if he was threatening to decapitate her. That annoying twinge of something rose in his heart again as his head went back to its original position. Tsunade said a few words more, then people were clapping hands, and the younger Konoha ninja were whistling and catcalling.

The Hokage's aide brought them the marriage certificate, and they both signed it silently, not looking at each other.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I know next to nothing about the traditional Japanese wedding ceremony, so what I've described here is a sort of fusion of the Western style and the bit of the Japanese ceremony I remembered watching in the movie Para Para Sakura years ago :-D heheh. I also know nuts about kimonos, only that I can pretty confidently identify one when I see it.. But that's about it, so please feel free to correct me, though I would prefer to if you could leave a reference website so I can check it out myself. Furthermore, i spotted another fic having the same title as this one. I'd like to say that i honestly had no idea that this title was already in use, and in no way did i copy the title off that fic. I have my own reasons for using this particular title. Draonheart0000, you know what I'm talking about :-) 

**Glossary-of-sorts.**

- sumimasen: sorry, excuse me.

- taichou: captain

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6  The Mission Starts

**The Author Says:** This lazy ass has updated. ahem. :-) I've been meaning to get this out n keep forgetting to: Team Hebi doesn't exist in this fic, mainly coz I wouldn't know what to do with them. Juugo's cool, Suigetsu's a little annoying, but Karin – she makes me wanna bitch-slap her n pull her hair out, then plant a good fist in her face. Hahaha. Annoying little cat. If she were to appear in this fic, the only purpose she would serve would be as Naruto's punching bag. Sorry if I've offended any Karin fans! XD

**Disclaimer:** Again, I know the equivalent of nothing when it comes to kimonos, so laugh all you want if what I've written concerning kimonos sounds ridiculous XD

U/L: 16th November 2007

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 6 – The Mission Starts**

* * *

"So this is what you meant by saving a friend," Kakashi's amused voice came from behind her, and she turned around to look at her former sensei. 

The ceremony was over. Her… husband was talking (or rather, being talked to) by a few clan heads and the Council. Naruto had been surprised to find the clan heads there for the ceremony, but then she realized that something this important (namely, it involved the last Uchiha, and the merging of that clan and a relatively obscure family to form a new clan name), so the heads should have been present.

"Well, yeah," Naruto replied shortly. She missed the anxiety that crossed the silver-haired man's face. He gripped her shoulder.

"All the best, Naruto," he said quietly. Kakashi gave her shoulder a squeeze and disappeared.

Naruto absently looked at where Kakashi had been standing as she played with her new wedding ring. A hand descended on her shoulder, and she turned around.

"Feeling better, Naruto?" Iruka asked kindly.

The blonde girl just nodded quietly. Iruka gave her a small smile. "That's good." He paused for a while, smiling at her fondly. "You know, it feels like I've just given my daughter in marriage."

Naruto stared at him with tinges of hope in her eyes. "Daughter?"

"Yeah... I feel like a father who has just handed his daughter to her husband. Feels like I've given away part of the family or something."

"You... me... daughter... father?" Naruto blurted incoherently. Iruka nodded, his eyes a little teary.

Naruto wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, feeling her own eyes start to tear and a warm feeling settle into her formerly empty heart. "Iruka…tousan?" she asked tentatively.

The man started in surprise, and Naruto almost backed off before he smoothed back her hair and chuckled warmly. "Tousan, huh? I'll have to get used to that. But it'll be my pleasure to have you call me tousan, Naruto."

The blonde girl released her newly-acknowledged foster-father, and grinned happily at him. Iruka was glad to see most traces of her earlier somber mood vanish from her face, to be replaced by her usual cheerfulness. He lifted his hand and carefully wiped away a tear from her eye. Naruto frowned a little and looked sheepish.

"Sorry, Iruka-tousan… I seem to get all teary and stuff nowadays."

Iruka gave her a half-smile and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off with a strangled cry of "Leader!"

Both the shinobi turned to the source of the sound to find Konohamaru staring and pointing dramatically at Naruto. Naruto's sheepish look returned and Iruka chuckled as Konohamaru rushed to them.

"I'll see you later, Naruto. Take care." Iruka gave her a pat on the head and left to find his wife.

"Leader!" Konohamaru said again in a pitiful tone, staring with a tragic expression on his face. "You're… you're a… girl!"

Naruto shot him an amused look tinged with irritation, though she was inwardly worried that he might be angry with her for keeping it a secret from him.

"And…?"

"…A girl! You're a girl!"

"Believe me, it's not by my choice," Naruto said dryly, looking at the shocked teen. Konohamaru was also dressed in a kimono with the Sarutobi family symbol on his sleeves. He had been the eldest of the Sarutobi since Asuma died, and thus was the head of the family comprised only of himself and a young nephew – Asuma's and Kurenai's child.

"A girl!"

Naruto narrowed an eye at him. "Is there anything wrong with being a girl? I hope you're not trying to say that girls are weaker…"

Poor Konohamaru couldn't get over his shock at seeing his beloved Leader was really a girl.

"Leader's a girl!"

"And looking exceptionally girly too!" rang out Kiba's voice. The grinning young man rested an arm over Konohamaru's shoulder.

"…Shut up, Kiba," Naruto said, fidgeting uncomfortably. "They forced me to wear this, okay? Not something I'd do of my own choice. T-shirts and pants for me anytime!"

Ignoring Konohamaru's "A girl!", Kiba winked at Naruto. "Hey, you look fine as a girl! Looking good without the chest bindings!"

Naruto blushed fiercely. "Kiba!" she shouted, swinging a fist to his face, which he dodged easily.

"Kiba-kun!" admonished Hinata, who had arrived to stand beside the Inuzuka. The man just laughed uproariously, disregarding the fist waved in his face.

"I can still kick your ass even when I'm in a skirt, dog-breath!"

"Yeah, sure," Kiba drawled, grinning at his friend. Naruto grinned back.

"Glad to know you agree," she said mischievously, enjoying the way Kiba spluttered and Hinata tittered.

"Naruto. Congratulations." Shino materialized beside the still-staring Konohamaru.

Naruto smiled at the man in shades. "Thanks," she said. _I think_. Shino nodded and walked off to the refreshment table. Naruto looked around to see that most of the guests were clustered around the table, and Sasuke was still getting talked to by some clan head geezers.

"Yeah, I'd been meaning to ask you," started Kiba, his face showing curiosity. "Why'd you marry the Uchiha, anyway? He suddenly appears in the village, and next thing we know you're engaged to him."

Naruto put on an embarrassed, shy look. "Heheh… Well… I always had feelings for him… and it turned out he had feelings for me… and so… this happened," she choked out, mentally shuddering at the words. Feelings for him? He having feelings for her? Another shudder.

Kiba shot her a look that told her he didn't believe her story one bit, but instead said, "Be sure to start on making little Narutos and Sasukes soon!" with a leer, and escaped to the refreshment table, laughing his head off as Hinata tried valiantly to hold back the furious and blushing blonde.

"I'm gonna slice his… rasengan up his… tie him butt-naked to the Sandaime's face…" Naruto muttered, her expression a mix of embarrassment and rage.

"Troublesome," drawled Shikamaru. Temari smacked his head.

"Hey, girl. Never thought you'd be the first girl to go, heh?" she smirked. Naruto tore herself from her plans to give Kiba a good Sennen Goroshi and looked up at the Suna kunoichi.

"Hey Temari. Yeah…" she said uncertainly. Both Shikamaru and Temari narrowed their eyes at her, and she gave a short laugh.

"Man! You both have identical expressions! Been hanging around each other too much," she grinned. Both Shikamaru and Temari snorted, then realizing they had done the same thing, looked at each other, turned away and snorted again in unison. Naruto laughed at them, and Temari reached over and smacked her on the back of her head.

"Gaki! That's what happens when you get married!" she smirked. "I'll give you two months before you start acting like your husband."

Naruto spluttered.

Shikamaru sighed and put an arm around his wife. "As long as your husband doesn't start acting like you," he mumbled. The three of them gave this a second of thought before they all shuddered.

Naruto made a disgusted face as a mental image of an uproariously laughing and bouncing Sasuke entered her mind. _Errgh… Not happening!_

"You look more dickless than usual," came Sai's voice from behind her. Naruto rolled her eyes and turned around, puling back her sleeve and flinging her fist into the black-haired man's face. It dissolved into ink, and the rest of his body turned into a splat on the floor as well. Naruto shrieked and quickly lifted the skirts of her kimono and backed away.

"Sai! Baka! You'll ruin my kimono!"

"You sound like Hag," Sai's voice was amused, and he had a smile on his face. Knowing him well, Naruto could tell the smile was rather fake.

"Lame, Sai," Naruto growled at him, carefully checking the floor for ink before releasing her kimono. Then she realized something. "Where are Sakura and Ino, anyway?"

"Mission in Kiri," answered Chouji, his mouth full of food. He swallowed and continued, "Tsunade-sama sent them two days ago, together with Lee and Tenten." Naruto mentally breathed a sigh of relief at not having to meet Sakura yet and smiled at Chouji looking blissful with a full plate in his left hand and a pair of chopsticks in his right.

"Leader's a girl!" came Konohamaru's anguished voice. Naruto turned in surprise. She'd forgotten about him – he was still standing there with a bewildered expression on his face. Sighing, Naruto shook his shoulders in an attempt to snap him out of his daze, then slung an arm around his shoulder and half-led half-dragged him to towards the refreshments.

Temari, Shikamaru, Sai and Chouji all followed the blonde with their eyes. They had not missed the fact that the bride didn't seem particularly excited, or happy even, about her out-of-the-blue wedding. They hadn't even known the Uchiha had been back till they bumped into him in the village streets on different occasions a few days ago. While most of the shinobi and all of the village welcomed the Uchiha back because they weren't informed of his defection six years ago, the Konoha 11, especially those involved in the failed retrieval attempt all those years ago, weren't as forgiving as Naruto seemed to be.

"Troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru. Chouji shrugged.

Xx

Xx

Sasuke seemed to listen neutrally as the male Elder droned on and on about something, but inwardly he was itching to just turn on his heel and walk away.

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed the guests – other than the clan heads, the Hokage, the white-haired Sannin, the Hokage's aide, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, the ramen lady and another lady that looked like an Inuzuka, the guests were his former genin peers and two more men he recognized from the time they came to get him in Kusa no Kuni.

Naruto appeared at the very edge of his vision, and various people came up to talk to her, sometimes blocking her from his sight. Not that he cared. He didn't want to be back in Konoha in the first place, but since he was here, and the Council had presented him a good opportunity to kill Itachi, he'd do anything as long as his revenge was complete.

His focus turned back to the Elder, who was rounding up his speech. Sasuke gave the man a curt nod, and stalked off to stand on his own at one side of the circular rooftop. He crossed his arms as he looked up at the Hokage Monument, but his thoughts were on who to choose as his sensei.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned his head slightly to see his old Academy sensei standing next to him, arms crossed over his chest and staring at the Monument. Sasuke ignored the man and turned back to face the Monument. The features of the stone faces couldn't really be observed in the darkness of the night that had fallen.

"I know why you consented to marrying Naruto," Iruka said softly, but his tone was hard. "Since Naruto herself agreed to this, there's nothing much I can say. But don't hurt her. She's been through enough in life, and she doesn't need her best friend to break her heart again."

Sasuke didn't reply. He didn't really care about the dobe. As long as she was in a good enough condition as Itachi-bait, he was satisfied.

Iruka's voice softened. "I don't know what you expect from this marriage, Sasuke. But Naruto doesn't know what family life is like. She wouldn't know how to act like a wife, or how to live with another person, either. Go easy on her." The man shifted on his feet, still looking out over the Monument.

"Hatred and revenge aren't everything. Naruto could teach you that, if only you'd want to learn."

Sasuke didn't turn his head as Iruka left him and went back into the light provided by cheerful lanterns strung up around the rooftop. The place where he was standing was shadowy – that's why he chose the spot.

After a while, he got steadily more and more irritated as more and more people came up to him to warn him against upsetting Naruto. How on earth did the dobe manage to get herself so many annoying guard dogs? First the Hokage and the white-haired Sannin, then Iruka, and now Kiba, Neji, a blonde kunoichi with a Suna hitai-ate, a brown-haired brat Sasuke recognized as the little brat who used to follow Naruto around, a black-haired man around their age who had a fake smile on the whole time, and another black-haired man around Kakashi's age. Sasuke recognized the last two from Kusa no Kuni.

It really annoyed him. But he wouldn't admit that it was because Naruto had so many people that cared for her. He wasn't jealous – he didn't need those pathetic bonds, which was why he'd severed them in the first place.

Xx

Xx

Naruto noticed Sasuke's dark form in the shadows that couldn't be reached by the light of the lanterns, but didn't go near him. Instead, she chatted and laughed with her friends, and watched in amusement as Tsunade-obaachan and Shizune-neechan argued about sake. Shizune-neechan kept snatching sake out of the annoyed and slightly-tipsy Hokage's hands, protesting that she still had work waiting at her office.

It had gotten late, and most people were starting to leave. The clan heads had all wished her congratulations, and she had pasted on a polite smile and endured it all. She was glad it was almost over.

"Uchiha-Uzumaki-san," croaked an old lady's voice beside her, and Naruto turned to the voice. Frowning mentally as she saw the female Elder standing there with a smug look, she schooled her features into a neutral expression.

"Obaasan," she greeted, knowing that it wasn't polite of her to do so. Not that she cared.

The old lady's smug look deteriorated into faint annoyance. Naruto smirked inwardly.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Keimei," the old lady said.

"Save your felicitations for those who want them, baabaa," Naruto said in a neutral voice to match her neutral face. "You know very well why I'm doing this."

"All in the interests of the village, Keimei," the Elder rejoined. "I would just like to remind you that even though you think of this as a mission, it is a real, legal marriage, and as a wife you have duties to your husband..."

"I know the conditions of the deal, baabaa," Naruto cut in, her eyes hard. She was already scheming of how to get rid of the two ancient Elders when she became Hokage.

The Elder gave her a smug look. "Excellent. I was merely offering you advice on the responsibilities of a wife, as I know you have not had an example – a mother – to guide you about these things."

The old lady noticed Naruto's narrowed eyes, trembling, fisted hands and dark look. She pursed her lips. "Very well, then. As a loyal shinobi of Konoha I'm sure I can expect you to carry out your duty flawlessly. Oyasumi, Uchiha-Uzumaki."

Naruto gritted her teeth as the Elder swept away from her and left the rooftop. An arm descended around her shoulders.

"Con-_hic_-grats! Naruto! _Hic_! Be a good –_hic_– little wife! _Hic_!" Kiba said, grinning drunkenly at her. Naruto fought the urge to plant her fist in his face, and chose instead to wave away the fumes of his breath from her face.

"You're drunk, dog-breath," she muttered as Hana-neechan gave Naruto a smile and an "Oyasumi, see you around" and dragged her younger brother home.

Kiba was the last to leave. The others had left while she had been talking to the relic. Jiraiya clapped her on her shoulder, and left after giving her an unreadable look. Tsunade walked a little unsteadily to Naruto, with an annoyed Shizune at her side.

"Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto," she said, her cheeks pink due to the sake. "What a mouthful." She straightened herself, and swayed a little, then bellowed, "Uchiha-Uzumaki Sasuke!"

Naruto watched the figure in the darkness tense and turn their way. She could tell that Sasuke was annoyed at being yelled at. Tsunade stared at him for a while, then, as he just stared back, she impatiently beckoned him over. He reluctantly complied, and walked towards them to stand almost an arm's length away from Naruto. The blonde's dull ache in her heart returned, but she tried to ignore it. _It's a mission_.

"The Uchiha-Uzumaki couple," Tsunade said, and blinked at them. A pause, then Shizune cleared her throat. Tsunade nodded to herself. "Right. You have tomorrow off, then report to me in my office for further instructions. Ok, you can both go to your new home now, and I'll see you in the day after tomorrow."

Naruto blinked, head tilted to the side. _New home?_ "What new home?" she asked suspiciously, dread starting to curl in her stomach.

Tsunade blinked at her. "Your new home," she said slowly, as if talking to a small child. "You and Sasuke are married, so you'll be staying together. Your belongings have been moved already-"

"NANI!"

xx

xx

"Stupid obaachan… crazy idea… staying in the same house?!!... touching my things without permission…" Naruto muttered darkly as she trudged behind Sasuke to their new apartment. How could Tsunade not have informed her of this earlier? She hadn't even thought about the possibility of having to stay with Sasuke. How was she supposed to know that they had to stay together? Arrghh!

She continued muttering as she looked up to see Sasuke walk calmly up the stairs of their new apartment building, fish out some keys from somewhere, unlock, and open the door to their apartment.

From the moment she stepped in, Naruto could tell that this apartment was much better than her previous one. For starters, it was much bigger – her old apartment could practically fit in the living room of this apartment. The apartment was dark. Naruto closed the door behind her and locked it, then, using her heightened sense of sight, she carefully made her way to the windows and opened the curtains a little. Moonlight streamed in, and she could see the layout of the room better. There was a comfortable-looking sofa set in the middle of the room, two shelves by the wall, and a few decorations on the shelves and on the wall.

The place, all in all, was a pleasant fusion of modern and traditional. The doors to the kitchen and corridor that she presumed led to the bedrooms (she fervently hoped it was plural) were shoji doors.

Sasuke didn't bother to turn on the lights as he silently opened the shoji door to corridor and disappeared into it. A little ticked off at his silence, Naruto followed him in time to see him vanish into a door at the end of the corridor. Squinting a little, she noticed two doors parallel to the corridor, one on each side. She opened the door on her left first, and it turned out to be the bathroom cum toilet. She closed the bathroom door and opened the remaining one.

It was a bedroom, and she could tell it was hers. Feeling much relieved that they didn't have to share a room, she bounced into her room and looked around. Her few posters that had hung near her bed in her old apartment now decorated the wall of her new room. Even her Kakashi-doll hung beside her bed. It was quite dark in the room, so she stepped towards the least-dark area and reached out to feel some curtains. Grasping the cloth, she pulled the curtains apart to let the moonlight flood her room.

The window was full-length, and opened out onto a balcony. Grinning happily, she opened the window and stretched outside to take a breath of fresh air, then stepped back into the room and closed the window. Turning around, she noted that the bed was to the left of the door, and opposite the bed were a cupboard and a shelf. At the foot of the bed were a desk and chair, and in the middle of the room was a nice, plush rug.

She opened the cupboard to find that her clothes had been carefully hung. The drawers of the cupboard contained carefully folded clothes. She laughed in her head – the cupboard wouldn't stay so neat for long. She closed the cupboard and went to stand on the rug, letting her toes sink into the plush material since she had left her shoes at the genkan. She smiled a little. Maybe living in this apartment wasn't too bad.

A large yawn erupted from her, and as she stretched her arms upward she realized that she was quite tired. Yawning again, she picked at the knot of her obi to start taking off her kimono. Seconds passed… and she couldn't undo her obi. She frowned, and her fingers picked irritably at the knot for a few minutes, but to no avail. Giving up on the irritating thing, she growled and threw herself onto the bed.

The bed was a little bigger than her bed at home, and the futon was firmer. She knew that sleeping on firmer futons was better for her back – Tsunade had been trying to get her to change her old, lumpy mattress at her old apartment for quite a while. She snuggled into the comfortable, firm new pillows and drew the blanket over her body, and closed her eyes.

Only to open them again. It was uncomfortable sleeping in the formal kimono, and she made a silent noise of frustration as she sat up. Annoyed, she pushed back her sleeves and tried to work on the knot again, but she still got nowhere.

An idea popped into her head – perhaps Sasuke could help…?

Tiredness forced her to get up and pad to the door Sasuke had disappeared behind. She knocked gently on the door, and a few long seconds passed before she heard an indistinct noise inside. Taking it as permission to enter, she tried the knob to find it was unlocked, and quietly opened the door. Sasuke's room, she noted, was pretty much like hers. It had the same furniture, although the decorations were fewer. Sasuke himself was sitting on the bed, looking expectantly at her.

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, she blushed and her fingers picked at the blasted knot again. It was a good thing Sasuke's curtain was only opened a crack, so he couldn't see the redness of her cheeks.

"Ano.. erm… Heh. I kinda need your help…" she stammered, feeling ashamed at having to ask for help in such a simple thing. It had occurred to her to simply cut the obi with a kunai, but the kimono was kinda expensive, and she wanted to keep it carefully. And intact.

Sasuke frowned faintly. She could just make out the slight furrowing of his brows in the weak moonlight.

_Better get this over with_, she thought, and said aloud, "I was wondering… I mean, could you… help me untie my obi? I can't seem to do it." She reddened again with shame at having to ask for help from Sasuke, of all people, with what was definitely a simple task to most people. But then, she wasn't most people, and this was one of the very few times (only the second time, actually) that she was wearing a formal kimono. The first had been during Iruka-tousan and Ayame-neechan's wedding. Hinata-chan had helped her into and out of the kimono that time.

Her former teammate didn't acknowledge that he'd heard her, and, embarrassed and a little angry, she turned to go, but then he raised his right hand in what seemed like a beckoning gesture. Naruto hesitated for a moment, then stepped in front of him. Wordlessly, he started untying the knot.

A thought sprang up in Naruto's mind, and she flushed darkly – it was like what she'd read in Icha Icha Violence once, and she'd forgotten about it because it was boring, but now it came back to her mind. She remembered reading about a newly married couple spending their first night together, and how the husband started to untie his bride's obi and let it drop to the floor, then slowly open her kimono and push it off her shoulders, and –

She blushed to the tips of her ears, thankful for the darkness that kept Sasuke from seeing her face. Damn that Ero-Sennin, forcing her to read his perverted books. Sasuke would never think of her that way, and she would never allow someone other than a husband who actually loved her to touch her, either.

The dull ache in her heart intensified, and she felt her heart grow heavy with disappointment.

Sasuke had finished with the obi, and she quickly ignored the heaviness of her heart and grabbed the obi. Her kimono fell open to reveal the white under-kimono. Blushing again, she quickly pulled the kimono together.

"Thanks, Sasuke. This is only the second time I'm wearing a formal kimono, and the last time I had Hinata-chan to help me, so I don't really know about all this kind of stuff – I mean, tying rope knots are a piece of cake but these knots drive me crazy-" she broke off as she realized she was rambling. Stepping quickly to the door, she uttered a quiet "Thanks, Sasuke. Oyasumi," and closed the door behind her.

Deep onyx eyes followed her to the door, and stared at the door after she left.

* * *

**Glossary-of-sorts**

- genkan: the small space right after the door where they take off their shoes and put on house slippers if they want to.

- shoji: rice paper (I think :-p)

- oyasumi: 'night. Oyasuminasai is the more formal way of saying it, which I guess would translate to good night.

- obi: the belt-like portion of the kimono.

**The Author has more to say: **oh, and I've gone back n corrected that atrocious grammar of that last sentence in the previous chapter. shame shame on me. also, thanks to those who added this fic into their C2s. I guess that's a compliment, ne:-) please just drop me a line if you would like to do so, just so i will know. thanks!

Reviews and contructive criticism much appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7  Origins Revealed

**The Author** **Says:** Sorry, I know i kinda promised someone to update earlier, but then i got a little busy and lazy... heheh. ok, not much SasuNaru-ness or NaruSasu-ness this chapter. more like none at all... sowee...

U/L: 23rd November 2007

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 7 – Origins Revealed**

* * *

Naruto stirred uncomfortably. She felt like she had been sleeping with her head on small rock. Annoyed, she opened her eyes only to squeeze them shut immediately at the sunlight that streamed through the window.

"Arrghh," she groaned, and turned to face the wall, away from the sun. Groggily, she reached behind her head and patted around, only to find that she had forgotten to undo the bun her hair was in, which accounted for the 'rock' she felt. Groaning again, she clumsily pulled at the bun until it became loose. Sighing in relief, she brought her hand down and placed it under her cheek, and went back to sleep.

Rather, she tried to go back to sleep, but her internal clock always woke her up at seven in the mornings, and it was ringing itself crazy in her head right now. Growling with frustration, she flopped onto her back and rubbed at her eyes, then forced them open, and threw back her blanket. Yawning widely, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched luxuriously.

Naruto stood and stretched again. One hand scratched her hair, and the other her side as she stepped to her window and looked out. She could see the Hokage Monument, and the Hokage Tower beneath it. She smiled sleepily; glad that she could still see the Monument like she had been able to from her previous home. She realized that the apartment was on the third floor, and it was higher than the two-storey houses she could see across the street from her balcony. That was a benefit – she wouldn't have to worry about anyone peeping in.

The sun glinted off something on the fingers of her left hand and the wrist of her right hand. Blinking sleepily, she brought both hands to the front of her face to find the source of the reflections. On her right wrist was Gaara's bracelet, and she smiled fondly as she twisted her wrist round a little, letting the sun's rays dance off the clear glass beads and silver charms.

On the fourth finger of her left hand was an unfamiliar weight. Squinting, she suddenly realized what it was – her wedding ring. Naruto brought her hand closer to her eyes and observed the rather broad and flat band made of rose-gold. The sun, she realized, had been reflected by the tiny white diamonds and single ruby that were arranged in the Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol in the ring.

She stared at it for a while, but it was too early to start thinking. She cracked a yawn, enjoying the feel of the soft morning sun on her skin.

Another yawn, and she turned around, and left her room to go to the bathroom. She found that her toothbrush and toothpaste sat together with another set of toothbrush and toothpaste in a mug above the sink. The other toothbrush – Sasuke's, obviously – was a little wet, showing that it had been used not too long ago. Naruto blinked, realizing that he was already awake.

She went through her morning routine, then stepped back to her room to change out of the under-kimono she had slept in, and into a pair of feminine underclothes (since she wasn't on duty, otherwise she'd bind her chest. Bras tended to chafe when she used taijutsu), and a black t-shirt with a red, puffy cloud-like design on the front and a prominent (though not too large) Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol on the back (must have been Ayame-neechan's doing) and a pair of baggy shorts that reached below her knees. Her usual off-duty attire. She gave her hair a bit of a brush as she looked in the mirror. Her hair was a stiff, and stuck out at funny angles. On normal days her hair was always spiky and a little shaggy, but now it was stiff – probably due to the hairspray Ayame-neechan had generously sprayed on yesterday. She pursed her lips, and decided to wash her hair later.

Her jewelry – she never thought she'd see the day she actually wore jewelry, heck, she'd never imagined herself married, mission or not – caught her eye. Shaking her head lightly, she decided to pull on her usual black fingerless gloves, and gave a self-satisfied nod when the black material covered both the bracelet and the ring. The blonde left her room and wandered down the corridor and into the living room. In the daylight, she could better observe the living room, but her stomach gave a loud growl. Deciding to obey it, she left exploring the living room for later and slid open the remaining shoji door.

The kitchen was bright and cheerful. Cupboards lined the walls over the kitchen counter and sink on one side, and a refrigerator, stove, and oven lined the other. The wall opposite the door had two windows with short curtains. A modern-looking wooden table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room. There was an alcove to the right of the door, and it had a washing machine and clotheslines, as well as a shuttered window that could be opened to admit the sun.

Naruto was impressed. She had never had such luxuries in her life. Sighing in contentment, she skipped over to the fridge and yanked it open, then frowned. It was almost empty – only a few tomatoes and some onigiri in a container stared back at her. Acting on a suspicion, she opened every single cupboard and drawer in the counter to find that there was nothing edible in it, only kitchen utensils, cutlery, bowls, plates, cups, mugs and glasses. She sighed, and her stomach growled.

Sasuke came in, and proceeded to the fridge where he took out the container of onigiri. He sat down with his back to where she was standing near the door, and calmly ate the onigiri without acknowledging her or offering her any.

Anger flared for a moment, then she decided she wasn't going to allow him to ruin her life. It was just a mission; she wouldn't allow his bastard-ness to rile her up.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!" she greeted, smiling cheerfully at his back. "There's practically nothing here, and I'm starving, so I'm going out to get some food – cereal, milk, maybe some rice and meat. And cup ramen. Definitely getting cup ramen! Anything you want?"

Sasuke ignored her. Pouting, then sticking her tongue at his back, she said, "Fine then, teme. See you later."

Xx

Xx

Naruto grumbled to herself as she walked down the street towards the grocery store she usually shopped at. What was the teme's problem? It wasn't like she forced him to marry her! She was doing him a favour by marrying him, so couldn't he at least be a little nicer? Bastard.

She missed the twelve-year-old Sasuke she knew. Not that he'd been overly nice to her, but at least she could detect the faint friendship that lined his insults and sarcasm. Eighteen-year-old Sasuke apparently preferred to just ignore her.

Grumble, grumble, grumble – and she reached the front of the shop. Just as she was about to enter, a chuunin she recognized as working in the Hokage Tower greeted her, and informed her that the Hokage wished to see her right away.

"But it's my day off! And I'm hungry!" complained Naruto, hands on her hips. The chuunin cowered, but held his ground.

"Tsunade-sama mentioned it was urgent," he said. Naruto crossed her hands over her chest and drew her lips into a straight line.

"Fine!" she huffed, and shunshin-ed to the door of the Hokage's office.

Xx

Xx

"Tsunade-obaachan! What's so urgent? I'm hungry!" shouted Naruto as she barged into the Hokage's office, and avoided the metal ruler thrown at her. She marched up to the Hokage's desk and slapped her palms down onto it, glaring at the blonde behind the desk.

The older blonde looked tiredly at her. "Sit down, Keimei. I hope you had a good rest?" she said, and mumbled something Naruto couldn't catch.

"I hope you had an interesting, fun-filled night, gaki!" came Jiraiya's voice, a positive leer in it. Naruto, who had slouched into one of the two chairs in front of the desk, snapped upright and glared at the Sannin, who had just hopped in through the window.

"Ero-Sennin you perverted, lecherous old-" she started angrily, but the self-proclaimed super pervert cut her off.

"Hmm… no marks on the skin, no sign of exhaustion," he said thoughtfully as he looked over her, rubbing his chin. He then shook his head sadly. "You didn't do anything last night, did you?" he asked mournfully. "I thought I trained you better than that."

Naruto blushed brightly and jumped out of her seat to land a punch at the grinning white-haired man, but Tsunade beat her to the punch, literally. Jiraiya retired to his usual corner against the window, cradling his bump-sporting head with a hurt look on his face. Naruto dropped back into her seat and crossed her arms sulkily, and Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Keimei, something occurred last night that involves you," Tsunade stated, looking serious.

Naruto frowned. "I figured as much, seeing as you called _me_ here," she said with a tinge of sarcasm. "Who do I have to marry this time? Or do I have to start producing Sharingan babies sometime soon?"

"Keimei!" Tsunade snapped, her eyes blazing at the young woman.

Naruto looked away. "Sorry, obaachan," she murmured, a little ashamed. Tsunade massaged her temples.

"Last night, after your wedding ceremony, Shizune hauled me in here to finish the paperwork I had left," Tsunade said as Jiraiya sniggered. "Shut it, old man. The only reason _I'm_ in this chair doing the work and not you is because _you_ didn't have the balls to do it." The Hokage glared at her old teammate.

Jiraiya glared back. "Why, I didn't even know _you_ had balls, Tsunade-hime. Anything else you hide under that full-body genjutsu?"

Wrong thing to say to an annoyed, sleep- and sake-deprived Hokage. She glared angrily at him, marched towards him and, lifting him up by the collars so that he dangled on his toes, gave him a chakra-powered kick to his lower abdomen region even before he could start scrambling away. He flew with a painful "Oouf!" out the window he had come in, and was soon out of sight. "Next time you'll get it in the jewels, you old pervert!" she shouted out the window, and men within hearing range all instinctively covered their crotches at the fury and threat in the Hokage's voice.

Tsunade marched back to her chair and dropped into it, closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a half a minute. Naruto had a scared look on her face, and was eternally thankful Tsunade never did that to her when she pissed the Hokage off.

Brown eyes snapped open. "Now where was I?" she asked Naruto irritably.

"Err… something happened last night?" squeaked Naruto. Tsunade nodded.

"Right. At precisely eleven pm, a chakra spike was felt in the very centre of this room, and a seal became undone in the very centre of the office. It was a time-limit seal, meaning that the object sealed would remain sealed for a time period designated by the sealer."

Naruto nodded to show Tsunade she understood so far. She sucked at seals, only managing to perform the simpler ones, but she'd heard of a time-limit seal before, even though she had never seen one.

Tsunade paused for a moment and looked at Naruto, a guarded expression on her face. "Two private communication scrolls were revealed. Both bore the seal of Sarutobi-sensei."

Naruto knew that private communication scrolls were just that – scrolls meant for personal messages, not as jutsu textbooks or official missives; they were more of letters. What really had her attention was who the seal on the scrolls belonged to. What did the Sandaime felt he needed to seal with a time-limit seal, and what did it have to do with her?

"One was meant for the current Hokage, and so I opened it. It contained instructions about the second scroll and an explanation about the time-limit seal, as well as sealed personal letters to Jiraiya and myself. The second scroll," Tsunade continued a tad more slowly, "was meant for you."

Naruto's face showed her surprise and curiousity.

"In the first scroll, Sarutobi-sensei explained that he wrote you an explanation of who your parents were, and he included pictures of them, and a personal letter they wrote to you before your birth."

Naruto's mind froze. Her parents…?

"According to his explanation, he sealed both scrolls to appear on the night of October eleventh, since he knew that the Hokage would have to officiate the Festival on the tenth," Tsunade said carefully, watching the frozen look on the face opposite hers. She tossed a small scroll towards Naruto, and winced as it hit her in the stomach. The younger blonde had not even tried to catch it.

"Whether you open it or not is up to you. What I can say is that the truth about your parents, or your father, mainly, is controversial. But I believe if you decide to read the scroll, it's about time the rest of Konoha found out who you really are as well."

Tsunade observed the jounin in front of her. She had been surprised to read what Sarutobi-sensei revealed about Naruto's parents in the first scroll, but she wasn't shocked. In fact, she had formulated her own conclusion as to Naruto's father much earlier. Who wouldn't – the resemblance was so obvious! But at the same time, it came as quite a relief to find that she had been right.

"You're dismissed, Keimei. Don't forget, you and Sasuke are to meet me here tomorrow morning."

Naruto got up in a daze, clutching the scroll tightly, and left the office after a hastily murmured "Hokage-sama". Tsunade bit her lip as she watched her adopted sister leave, hoping she would be alright. Deep down, the blonde knew Naruto would be alright. She had weathered eighteen years of hate and almost twelve years of loneliness, and she had come out fine. She'd be alright.

Xx

Xx

Naruto walked dazedly back to her old apartment, and was about to enter before she realized that she now lived somewhere else. Half-consciously, she shunshin-ed to the door of her new apartment, entered quietly and proceeded to her room, not realizing the gaze of the onyx eyes of her husband had followed her from the main door to the shoji door from where he sat on the couch.

The blonde closed her room door and sank to the floor with her bed supporting her back. The scroll rolled out of her limp hand and stopped half a meter in front of her, and she stared at it.

Did she want to open the scroll? Did she want to find out who her parents were? Especially after Tsunade-obaachan mentioned that her father's identity was controversial? Did she really want to know after all this time? Were they even alive? She forgot to ask Tsunade-obaachan about that detail.

She stared at the scroll for a long time, forgetting about everything else – her hunger, and the other person in the apartment. She felt as if her thoughts were churning and swirling in her mind. So many questions that had plagued her for a long time would be answered if she opened the scroll. But did she really want to know?

Xx

Xx

Sasuke looked up from the scroll he was reading to the shoji door leading to the bedroom corridor. It was strangely quiet, and had been that way ever since the dobe came back from her shopping excursion – if she had even been to the shops, that was. She had looked dazed, even more dazed than during the beginning of their wedding ceremony last night, and didn't have any shopping bags in her hand, not even a cup of instant ramen. Instead she was holding very tightly to a small scroll that looked like a personal communication scroll.

She had babbled about being hungry before going out, but had gone straight into her room since morning, hadn't even come out for lunch, and it was almost sunset now.

He was annoyed with himself – the silence of the apartment bugged him, even if only faintly. Why should he even bother about what the dobe was doing in her room? He was sure she was still there – he could sense her chakra signature, and it was fluctuating, indicating something was up with her. Not that he cared, he told himself.

He returned his attention to the jutsu scroll he had salvaged from the old Uchiha Compound. During the few days before the wedding he, with Kakashi, had gone to the place to bring back as many scrolls as he deemed important. He had visited his old house, and forced himself not to think of the blood that splattered the halls the last time he had been in the house. He had taken a photo from an album he'd found – a photo that only had his otousan, okaasan and himself in it. He'd cut off his right hand before he brought anything of Itachi's with him. The photo now stood on his nightstand beside his bed, but he didn't look at it too often. He had found some jutsu scrolls belonging to the Uchiha clan, and brought those back with him. He had also taken some beautiful traditional paintings and an intricately painted shoji screen that he remembered his mother loved, and installed them in the living room where he was now.

It was too quiet for a place that had that blonde loudmouth in it. Sasuke blinked and realized that he hadn't moved past the same line of text for almost an hour. Irritably, he decided to get up and fix dinner for himself when his stomach grumbled. He rolled up the scroll neatly and placed it back in its place with the other scrolls in the shelves, then padded into the kitchen and pulled out the container of onigiri that remained from breakfast, sat down in the darkening kitchen and started eating quietly.

It was definitely too quiet. He loved the quiet, and he hated it at the same time. Before the …incident, his home had never been quiet. His mother was a constant presence, and she loved to sing while she worked around the house. Then when they all …died, he had moved out of the house – too many bad memories – and stayed on his own in an apartment. It had been deathly quiet when he stayed alone. He had learned to like the solitude, but sometimes at night the silence became oppressive.

Which was one reason why he sometimes looked forward to Team 7, even if he would never admit it to anyone. He especially looked forward to being in the company of the loud blonde, who was always so cheerful and loud that it made him forget the thick silence of his lonely apartment. He always felt better when they insulted each other, sparred against each other even if he ended up being annoyed by the dobe most of the time. He knew that someone else acknowledged him for who he was, and not the poor, pitied leftover of the Uchiha massacre.

When he found out he had to live with the dobe, he again was both a little relieved and a lot annoyed. Annoyed because of the blonde's loudness and idiocy. Relieved because of the blonde's loudness – the house wouldn't be oppressively silent. The dobe somehow always brightened up a place.

He reached for another onigiri in the dark, not bothering to switch on the lights, and wondered what was going on with the dobe. Not that he was worried about her. Just mild curiousity about what could possibly have achieved the impossible – shutting up the blonde for almost a whole day. He finished the rice ball, which had been the last of the batch, and put the container in the sink and washed his hands. He padded back into the living room and into the corridor outside his bedroom.

As he was passing the dobe's room, he heard very faint sobs that he wouldn't have heard if he wasn't a ninja. Involuntarily, he paused outside the dobe's door, then continued coolly to his room. He didn't care about the dobe's private life – she was Itachi-bait; a mere tool to achieve his goal.

He entered his room and shut the door behind him without another thought about the girl behind the other door.

Xx

Xx

The last few rays of the setting sun played across the walls of her room. Naruto looked up from where she'd been staring at the scroll on the floor for hours while biting and pinching her lower lip.

_I want to know_, she finally decided after hours of deliberating with herself. _I need to know_.

She reached up and switched on the lamp on her nightstand, then slowly reached for the scroll. She looked at it for a moment, running a finger gently along the lines of the Sandaime's seal, then, taking a deep breath, she broke the seal and opened the scroll.

_Uzumaki Naruto,_

_You are reading this letter. This means that I, for some reason, probably death, am not able to explain this 18-year secret to you personally._

_It might come as a shock to you to know that you are in fact a girl, and you have been from the time of your birth. I, with the approval and knowledge of the Hokage's Council and the Council of Elders, put a kage henge on you, thus turning you into a boy. This was done because I foresaw that the villagers and shinobi might not view you in the light of a hero, which I firmly believe you are._

_I write this letter to you to explain who your parents are. You or the new Hokage may have searched the Village Archives for records concerning your parents and your birth, but I am sure you have not found any. The records are concealed in a hidden compartment in the desk in the Hokage's office – the second drawer from the bottom._

_I am sorry to inform you that both your parents have passed away, but they were both heroes, and they had been very excited about your birth. Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, of the former Whirlpool Country, and your father was Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage._

_They were both without family. Their marriage was a secret one, to protect Kushina-chan against Minato's enemies, and only a few trusted friends were let in on the secret. You will have heard of stories about how the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou decimated Iwa shinobi during the Great War, and I tell you it was true. Your father was one of the greatest shinobi in Konoha, a kind and fair man. Unfortunately, as happens to every shinobi worth his chakra, he made enemies easily, which was why the marriage was kept secret. Kushina-chan was also a good kunoichi. She was always smiling and chattering away, and you remind me of her when you smile, even though you look so much like your father. Kushina-chan was independent, and never did like having to be protected._

_Your parents loved each other very much. Kushina-chan was always smiling, as was Minato. I remember how excited Minato was when he announced to me that Kushina-chan was pregnant with you. He was even more excited when the time drew near for Kushina-chan to give birth. It always makes me smile to remember how he went around with a perpetual smile, and was always checking up on Kushina-chan till he drove her mad._

_Kushina-chan had been rather weak during the pregnancy, and Minato was justifiably worried. To make matters worse, the Kyuubi no Kitsune had been spotted heading toward Konoha a day before you were born, and Minato frantically searched through the Hokage's jutsu archives to find something to get rid of the youkai. As you know, the only method that could restrain a youkai is the Shiki Fuujin and the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki. It broke his heart, and your mother's heart, to know that those seals were the only way to protect Konoha, but they both knew it was Minato's duty to protect Konoha._

_The demon could only be sealed within a newborn baby, because the chakra coils of a newborn are not yet developed, and so can accommodate the sudden influx of chakra. Minato and Kushina-chan knew this, and they were both willing to give up their child – you – to protect Konoha, because they both knew they could not ask it of any other parent. It was a difficult decision, and they cried over it, but they both stood by their duty as shinobi of Konoha._

_Minato knew the price of the Shiki Fuujin, and he willingly paid that price because of his love for the village and his family. I tried to reason with him to allow me to perform the sealing, but he adamantly refused, citing that it was his responsibility as Hokage. It still eats at my heart to know that I appointed your father to a position that ultimately led to his death. Had I postponed his promotion by three years, you would have your father with you. I ask for your forgiveness in this, Keimei._

_Our forces managed to hold back the youkai until you were born on October tenth. By then, the Kyuubi had already penetrated the outer wall of the village. Minato took you from Kushina-chan without time for even a goodbye, and not half an hour later, his soul had been consumed by the shinigami and you had become the vessel of the Kyuubi._

_Kushina, having been weak during her pregnancy, was weakened even more by childbirth. She clung to you for a few days after Minato passed away, but we both knew she wouldn't make it. She charged me with your care, and then left us to join Minato._

_I then cast the kage henge on you for your safety, and announced the rule concerning you. Minato and Kushina-chan had named you Keimei, meaning dawn, because to them you were a symbol that the darkness of the shinobi war was over, and peace was dawning. Minato had wanted to name you Naruto, and only decided against it after Kushina-chan beat it out of him. I remember how he sulked for a week about it. Since the kage henge turned your outward appearance male, I decided to name you Uzumaki Naruto, and an explanation concerning the kage henge and your real name I had written in the Hokage's log, which only the Hokage after me has the authority to read. I did not, however, include the truth of your parents in the log, choosing instead to write you this letter. However, the current Hokage should be able to recognize the Namikaze name easily enough._

_I tried to give you as normal a childhood as possible, but unfortunately you know better than I how I have failed. The villagers would not listen to reason, no matter how I tried to explain it to them. I felt all the more justified that I had kept your parentage a secret from them, for I had feared that they would retaliate if they knew you were Minato's daughter. Furthermore, times were tense then, since the Elemental Nations were still recovering from the war. Iwa would have hunted you down had they known that Minato had a daughter. Your status as jinchuuriki would make you all the more valuable. However, I could not deny you your family name, as I remember telling you – Uzumaki is your real name. While Kushina-chan was a popular person because of her personality, her name was not as well known as that of Minato's which was why I chose to give you your mother's clan name instead of your father's. _

_I ask your forgiveness, Keimei, for I have failed you in many ways. Had I been more proactive during your younger years, perhaps you wouldn't have grown up so lonely. As part of my apology, I seal here in this scroll photographs of your parents, and two jutsu scrolls of your father's techniques – the rasengan and the hiraishin no jutsu. I am afraid the details on the hiraishin no jutsu will seem incomplete, and in fact they are. Also, your father only completed the first phase of the rasengan. He had planned to try to fuse his elemental affinity with it, but had not the opportunity to complete it. Hiraishin no jutsu is complete, but as he never shared the full secret behind the jutsu to anyone other than Kushina-chan, I can only write down what I myself have figured out. Minato never had the time to detail his jutsu on paper._

_I know you are strong and brave, Keimei. I have observed you throughout the years, and I am proud that you harbour no desire for revenge, only love for Konoha. It would make any parent proud to see how you stand up in the face of your adversities, and, knowing Minato and Kushina-chan as I do, I am sure they are proud of you. Know that I am, too. You have great potential that is all your own, and not that of the youkai within you. You will grow strong, and I know you will surpass all previous Hokage. Do us proud, Namikaze Keimei, alias Uzumaki Naruto._

_Sarutobi_

_Sandaime Hokage._

Tears had started to fall down her scarred cheeks when she came to the paragraph about her parents. It was a huge shock – the Yondaime Hokage was her father? He had always been her hero… and now to find out he was her father…

She kept blinking back tears and choking back sobs as she read the rest of the letter slowly, until the end. After the letter, a seal was drawn into the scroll. She recognized it to be a simple summoning seal, the kind shinobi used to seal equipment into scrolls to carry around with them, like Tenten did with her weapons. She bit her thumb and smeared the bit of blood on the seal, then quickly made the appropriate handseals and whispered, "Kai."

A soft puff of smoke, and two scrolls and three photographs appeared. With a trembling hand, she ignored the scrolls, which were probably the jutsu scrolls, and picked up the three photographs. She wiped her tears with her other hand and brought the photographs into the small circle of light in the now-dark room.

Her heart was beating wildly. Finally, after so many years, she would be able to see the faces of her parents. The first photograph was that of the Yondaime Hokage – she could recognize the face on the mountain in the face of the man smiling at her in the photograph. The face on the mountain did little justice to her father, she decided. It depicted him as a solemn, fierce-looking man, but in the photograph, he was smiling such a sweet smile that you would never believe he could look so fierce, although you could tell at once that he was a serious man. Naruto's heart clenched painfully, wishing with all her heart that she could see that wonderful smile in person, and that that smile was directed at her.

She realized that she resembled her father very closely. Her features, though more feminine, were similar to his. Her hair colour was the same, and she had never seen anyone else with hair as vividly blonde as hers, till now. Even the way his eyes squinted shut was similar to the way she squinted her eyes shut when she smiled her big smiles. She knew it from a picture of herself Sakura-chan had taken once.

A little reluctantly, she laid aside her father's photograph and picked up the next one. This one was a photograph of a woman with sweet features and wavy, shoulder-length fiery red hair. Her mother, she realized. The woman was beautiful and radiated strength, even from a photograph. You could tell she wasn't one to be taken lightly. Naruto's lips curled up a faint smile when she saw her own shit-eating grin reflected on her mother's face. Perhaps she inherited that habit from her mother. She traced the outlines of her mother's face tenderly, then laid the photograph aside, and picked up the third one.

It showed both her parents together, and her mother was very pregnant. Her father had his arm around her mother possessively, and the other hand on the bulge of her abdomen. Her mother was smiling at him. Naruto realized she had her father's eyes, although her eyes were large like her mother's.

Tears started to stream down her face again, and her heart ached with a loneliness that she had never felt before. Was it possible to miss people you've never met? Because that was how she was feeling. She never gave much thought to her parentage before this, but now it seemed 18 years of loneliness surged and flooded her, and she cried sobs that seemed to wrench themselves from her heart silently for hours.

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**Glossary-of-sorts**

- Hiraishin no jutsu: the name of the jutsu that made the Yondaime famous as Konoha's Yellow Flash (Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou). Many confuse it with the shunshin no jutsu, which is the regular teleportation technique that most ninja above the genin rank know.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8  Checkup

**The Author Says:** I forgot to mention earlier on – there'll be OCs in this fic. But don't worry, they're not the main characters of the story. And I really have to stop promising to update earlier than usual, or someone will come after me with a kunai one of these days... -sheepish face-

U/L: 30th November 2007

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**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 8 – Checkup

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**

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Where's Keimei? She's supposed to be here as well."

_Keimei?_ Sasuke wondered for a second before realizing that it was Naruto's name.

The house had been as quiet when he woke up this morning and when he had left, and he had sensed the dobe's chakra signature in the apartment the whole time, but didn't care to knock on her door. After his morning routine and breakfast, during which the dobe still hadn't appeared, he had made his way to the Hokage Tower alone – if you ignored his ANBU escorts, that was.

"She was still in her room when I left," he answered monotonously.

Tsunade frowned. "You could have woken her up," she said, obviously displeased.

"She's a shinobi, she should be able to keep appointments on her own," Sasuke said, his tone frosty.

Tsunade's frown deepened. "You live in the same house, the least you could do is knock on her door to wake her up. You're married to her now, the least you can do is start treating her like a friend," she said, and muttered, "not that you deserve a friend like her… I hope she didn't take the news too hard… have to send someone to check on her later…"

The Hokage massaged her temples with one hand as she rifled for a piece of paper on her desk with the other. Sasuke had heard her even though she had been talking softly to herself, and again wondered what it was that could keep the dobe quiet for a whole day.

"Have you chosen a sensei, Sasuke?" the Hokage looked up at him.

"I have," he answered.

A vein throbbed on her temple, but she asked in an even voice, "And your choice of sensei is?"

"Kakashi," he said.

Tsunade nodded. "I thought so. He is the obvious choice since he has the Sharingan and has had ANBU training." She stood up and walked to the window, opened it and stuck her head out. "Come in, Kakashi."

The silver-haired jounin hopped in after the Hokage.

"Sasuke," he greeted with a wave of two fingers as he put away a blue book. Sasuke just regarded him with his expressionless face.

Tsunade dropped back into her chair. "As expected, Sasuke has chosen you as his sensei, Kakashi. As such, you'll be off regular jounin duty until Sasuke is deemed ready to fight at Itachi's level, until Itachi is dead, or until I say so. You know what to do, Kakashi. The training schedule is up to you, but I want weekly reports." She narrowed her eyes at the jounin. "And I want them on time. Or no more Icha Icha."

Kakashi looked hurt. "Aww, Tsunade-sama, you don't have to threaten my precious Icha Icha!"

Tsunade leaned back and crossed her arms. She gave him an exasperated look. "You're like a small child, Kakashi. Now get going."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," he said with a happy eye crescent, bowed, and walked out the door with Sasuke following.

Xx

Xx

Kakashi leaned against the middle log as memories washed over him. They were in Team 7's favourite training area, where he had given them their first bell test. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked skyward.

"What level do you place yourself at, Sasuke?" he asked his former-turned-current student.

"Jounin," was the answer.

Without warning, Kakashi attacked him, and they engaged in a furious taijutsu battle mixed with kenjutsu and ninjutsu. Kakashi didn't have his old ANBU katana with him, so he had to block Sasuke's Kusanagi with a kunai. They blew flames at each other, set water dragons on each other, and flew at each other with high speed.

Kakashi had the upper hand because of experience, but he could see that Sasuke wasn't attacking blindly – he analyzed Kakashi's moves and formed plans, and was flexible enough to change his plan when Kakashi figured out what he was doing. The jounin had to uncover his Sharingan just seconds into the battle, and could tell easily that one Sharingan was barely a match against two fully-formed ones.

The training area resounded with metallic clangs and sounds of jutsu against jutsu. After a while, they left off the ninjutsu and concentrated more on taijutsu.

Sasuke leaped into the air as Kakashi lunged at him a kunai. Automatically, he transformed into his level 2 curse seal form, and flapped his wing-like appendages. Kakashi regarded him warily, then disappeared as Sasuke dove at him at high speed.

"No using the curse seal," Kakashi said in his lazy tone from behind Sasuke as he pressed the tip of his kunai against Sasuke's chest where his heart was. "I want to judge how far you've come on your own. The curse seal can come later, after I talk to you about it."

Sasuke frowned, angry at being caught so easily.

The jounin flipped his kunai away and into his kunai pouch. "You are definitely at jounin level, and you'd pass easily if you were to take the selection exam." He slouched, and the blue book appeared in his hands. "Your taijutsu is alright, but we still need to work on it. Kenjutsu needs a bit of work as well. Ninjutsu isn't a problem. Your strategies have improved, though you won't be catching up with Shikamaru just yet."

Sasuke had released the curse seal while Kakashi had been drawling out his analysis. He shrugged on his white kimono-like top with the new Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol on its back, larger than the Uchiha symbol he used to have when in Oto.

"That's all for today," Kakashi said rather absentmindedly as he started to walk away with his nose buried in the book. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man's back and started walking in the same direction. He was annoyed at his laidback attitude, although he knew Kakashi was far from incompetent.

A pigeon circled above Kakashi's head, and he held out a hand for the bird to land on without taking his eyes off what he was reading. Sighing, he slipped the book into his rear pouch and removed the slip of paper in the holder on the bird's leg. After reading it and shooing the pigeon away, he turned to Sasuke, who was a few feet behind him.

"How's Naruto doing?" he questioned.

Sasuke just gave him a look that said 'I couldn't care less'. Kakashi frowned at him, and opened his mouth to reprimand the younger man, but decided against it, and gave him a happy eye-crescent instead.

"Maa… I guess the least I can do is visit my beloved students in their new home, ne?"

xx

xx

Sasuke entered the apartment with Kakashi behind him. He closed and locked the door behind the self-invited guest, then silently led Kakashi towards Naruto's room. Kakashi knocked on the door.

"Yo Naruto! How was the wedding night?" he asked cheerfully. There was no reply. Sasuke stood behind him with one hand resting on his Kusanagi.

"You alright in there? You missed your appointment with the Hokage this morning, and she sent me to check on you," Kakashi continued. "Naruto?" he asked, knocking again. There was a faint stirring sound. "I'm coming in, okay?"

The silver-haired man tested the doorknob, and finding it unlocked, opened the door and peered inside. Sasuke couldn't see anything because Kakashi's body was blocking the doorway, but he noticed Kakashi tensing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he heard Naruto say in a raspy voice. Kakashi eased into the room, and from behind him Sasuke saw Naruto sitting in a heap on the floor by her bed, three scrolls and three photographs in front of her. He noted her disheveled hair and tear-stained face, and the fact that she was still dressed in yesterday's clothes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked again, piteously.

Kakashi frowned thoughtfully at her, though it was hidden under his mask. He crouched down in front of the distraught girl. "What did I not tell you?"

Her eyes were tired, and held some emotion Sasuke thought he recognized as sorrow. She picked up one of the photographs and weakly held it up to Kakashi, who immediately stiffened. Sasuke could barely make out the picture of a blond wearing a white cloak from where he was standing.

"What about him?" Kakashi asked warily.

Naruto drew her knees up and circled her arms around them, and whispered tiredly, "Why didn't you tell me he was my father?"

_Father?_ wondered Sasuke. In the room, Kakashi tensed even more, and was silent for a few moments before he finally said, "I had my suspicions, but never the confirmation. And it wasn't my place to tell you."

Naruto didn't reply, and instead lowered her head so that her face was buried in her knees. Kakashi stared at the photograph by Naruto's feet for a long while. Just as Sasuke was about to leave for his room, Kakashi sighed.

"Come on, Naruto. I've a feeling you've been moping here for too long." He stood up and held out his hand, but Naruto didn't respond. The man sighed again and grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled her up onto her feet. Naruto wobbled, and Kakashi quickly pulled her arm around his shoulder.

"How long how long have you been in here?" he asked as he walked out of the room and towards the kitchen while supporting the blonde.

"…Since yesterday morning, I think," was the weak reply.

"And I bet you haven't eaten anything, either? Right?" he lowered her into one of the chairs at the dining table. She slumped forward and rested her head facedown in her arms on the table. Kakashi opened the fridge and tutted at the lack of food. He closed the fridge and opened a cupboard to the left of his head, and took out a bag of tea, a teapot, two teacups and a kettle. He filled the kettle with water and set it to boil on the stove, then slowly took a seat directly in front of Naruto.

"When did you find out?" he asked, slouching back in his seat and crossing his arms.

Naruto wearily shifted her head so that she could look at her former sensei with one eye. "Yesterday morning. Tsunade-obaachan gave me the scroll saying it had been under a time-limit seal. The scroll was from Sandaime-ojiji."

"Sou ka…" Kakashi trailed off thoughtfully.

Sasuke leaned against the wall in the corridor that led towards his room. The shoji door was partly open, and he could hear the conversation in the kitchen easily. He didn't care about Naruto, but he had to admit he was rather curious who her father was, and what was the big deal about the man's identity.

"How do you feel about it?" Kakashi asked carefully, just before the kettle started singing. The legs of his chair scraped noisily against the wooden floor as he went to make the tea. Pouring two cups, he set one in front of Naruto and put the other cup and the teapot on the table before reseating himself.

"Drink the tea. You need something, after all that emotional exhaustion and fasting."

Sasuke waited for a while longer but all he could hear was the quiet slurps of the two shinobi drinking their tea. He decided to take a bath instead, since he was rather grimy and sweaty from the morning's spar.

Xx

Xx

"I… don't know what to think, Kaka-sensei," Naruto said, setting down her teacup. She raised her head and supported it with her palms; elbows being on the table. Kakashi waited quietly for her to continue, half wishing Tsunade-sama had chosen someone else to check on the blonde. He wasn't comfortable with this emotional stuff, and he himself didn't really know what to think now that Naruto was proven to be Sensei's daughter.

"I mean, when I was really small I'd wonder and pretend that the Yondaime was my father, then after that I started to forget about that fantasy, coz no matter how hard I tried to pretend, it would never come true. I used to imagine how people would suddenly start being nice to me and begging for my forgiveness once Sandaime-ojiji declared that I was the Yondaime's son." Naruto chuckled humourlessly, and Kakashi's heart clenched a little.

"So after a while I grew resigned to the fact that I would never have parents, or know who they were. It wasn't any easier seeing other children with their parents, but at least I stopped hoping coz it started to hurt. I was okay for a while, then came the genin exams and Mizuki-sensei who told me bout the Kyuubi. It was… shocking, to say the least. All this time I wondered why people looked at me like I was a monster, why I got beaten up on my birthdays, and then being told that my hero sealed the youkai in me…" Naruto trailed off and wiped the small tears that had formed at the corner of her eyes. Kakashi observed her quietly.

"He was always my hero, and will always be, and I'm gonna surpass him when I'm Hokage," she went on, her voice a little stronger. "But… knowing after all this time that he's really my…otousan… I mean, I understand why he did what he did. Sandaime-ojiji said there wasn't any other way to defeat the Kyuubi, and he said they cried about it… but it's still kinda difficult, you know?" Naruto rubbed her eyes roughly, then smiled at Kakashi, who was relieved to see Naruto was becoming herself again. "I'll be fine, Kaka-sensei."

Kakashi regarded her for a moment, then gave her a happy eye-crescent. "I know you'll be," he said sincerely. Naruto beamed at him.

"What was he like? He was your sensei, wasn't he?" she asked as she sipped her tea. The drink was doing her good; she wasn't feeling as jelly-like and shaky as she was a few minutes ago, though she was still feeling very tired.

Kakashi stilled, and his voice caught in his throat. He had never spoken to anyone about Sensei after his death. It was too difficult – Sensei died, then shortly after he saw Sensei's body he found out Rin died during the Kyuubi's attack as well. Losing every member of his team was the extremely difficult, second only to coming home after the genin exam to find his chichi-ue's innards splattered on the floor. It was a very close second, though. More of a tie, actually.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Naruto looked at him pleadingly. "Please, sensei. He's… still kinda unreal to me. Him and …okaasan. I don't know anything about them, and all I have are their pictures."

Naruto watched Kakashi's eyes glaze over as he seemed to be lost in his memories. Feeling guilty for forcing the man to relive what were obviously unpleasant memories, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me, Kaka-sensei. I understand if it's difficult for you. You don't have to," she said in a small voice, unable to keep a hint of disappointment from her tone. She sipped her tea, then poured herself another cup and closed her eyes.

"Your mother was always smiling and cheerful," came Kakashi's voice. Naruto opened her eyes in surprise. She hadn't expected Kakashi to answer her, knowing that he wasn't the type to talk about his past. She looked at him, asking with her eyes if he really wanted to continue, but he was looking distractedly at the teacup he was holding.

"You reminded me of her the first time I saw you. I didn't know her too well, but I heard that she was brave and determined and independent and friendly and noisy," he went on with a smile. "Your father… your father was wise, courageous and strong. You remind me of him too. He was a great Hokage and a great sensei. He had to be, since he had to deal with Obito and me." Kakashi chuckled at some private joke. "He was quite serious, but he knew how to smile and joke once in a while. His cooking sucked, though."

Naruto laughed softly, and Kakashi looked up at her briefly before going turning his gaze back to the teacup.

"Sensei never told me his wife was pregnant. But then again, I wasn't easily available at that time." Kakashi gave a mirthless chuckle. "My teammate Uchiha Obito died in the Great War, and gave me this Sharingan eye."

Naruto recognized the self-blame in Kakashi's voice.

"It wasn't your fault, sensei."

Kakashi laughed self-deprecatingly. "Actually, it was. I had just made jounin, and was supposed to lead my team in a mission, and because of my foolishness Obito died."

"I'm sorry, sensei," Naruto said softly, mentally kicking herself for the foot-in-mouth.

Kakashi was quiet for a while.

"It's ok, Naruto. I've gotten over his death, even if I can never forget him. He taught me a lesson about taking care of friends I can never forget." He continued in a slightly brighter voice. "Anyways, what I was trying to say is that after the war I joined ANBU and drowned myself in missions till I almost lost contact with everyone else. So I guess sensei had no chance to tell me about his expecting a child even if he had wanted to."

"I see…" Naruto said quietly.

"Yeah… he was a fair sensei, almost like a father to me during the time I was in his team. I wish you could have met him."

Naruto idly twirled her finger around the mouth of her teacup. "I wish I could have met him, too. And my mother… otousan… okaasan…" she said softly in a voice thick with longing.

Xx

Xx

"…and he ended up getting all wet because Obito had grabbed onto his leg when I kicked him into the river," chuckled Kakashi. Naruto laughed loudly.

Sasuke entered the kitchen quietly and stepped to the fridge. Kakashi was telling another story about someone he presumed was Naruto's father. He frowned as he looked into the fridge – it was empty. It was already lunch time, and they had nothing edible in the house. Sasuke closed the fridge door in annoyance and stepped to the sink to drink a glass of water.

Naruto laughed at Kakashi's story. Her father definitely sounded like a fun person to know, even if he was usually serious most of the time, from what Kakashi said. Her stomach grumbled loudly. She grinned sheepishly at the silver-haired man.

"When was the last time you ate, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his visible eye at her in mock severity.

"Err… last-last night, I think," Naruto replied hesitantly, scratching the back of her head while tilting her head to the side and squinting thoughtfully. Kakashi shook his head in exasperation.

"You really need to learn to take care of yourself, Naruto," Kakashi scolded lightly. "How are you going to manage your genin if you can't manage yourself?"

Sasuke rinsed his glass quietly while listening to the two talk.

"I can manage myself just fine!" Naruto exclaimed. "I just forgot about breakfast…and lunch…and dinner… and breakfast again… that's all!"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye at her. "Exactly."

Naruto grinned at him, then something struck her. "What do you mean, 'my genin'?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi made a noise in the back of his throat.

Naruto narrowed her eyes at the man. "Do you know something I don't?"

Kakashi merely slouched and shoved his hands in his pockets. He gave her a happy eye-crescent. "How did your meeting with Tsunade-sama go?" he asked instead, in a mischievous tone.

Naruto frowned poutingly. "Meeting with Tsunade-obaachan…?" she said slowly, uncomprehendingly, then, "Kuso! I forgot!" Her eyes grew wide, and she slapped a hand to her forehead. Kakashi chuckled.

"I know you forgot, that's why she went me to check up on you."

"Kuso!" Naruto said again, ignoring the grumbling of her stomach. She turned to Sasuke, who was about to leave the kitchen. "Oi Sasuke! Why didn't you remind me, huh!"

Sasuke looked coldly at her but didn't answer. Kakashi tsked and Naruto glared at him, "Bastard."

"You really should be nicer to your beloved wife, Sasuke," he said lazily, ignoring Naruto's indignant squeak, and Sasuke's snort. "And you really shouldn't be calling your husband that, Naruto."

Naruto blew him a raspberry, and got a happy eye-crescent in return.

"Maa, since we're all hungry, how does lunch sound?" he said. Naruto immediately perked up.

"Ramen! Your treat!" she said happily.

Kakashi placed a finger against his chin and looked away from Naruto's puppy-dog eyes. "Hmmm… alright. But just this once!" he added as Naruto cheered.

"Don't start mooching off me like you do Iruka-san. Shameless, really," Kakashi said, teasingly.

Naruto beamed at him. "Shameless is right! Iruka-tousan doesn't mind me taking advantage of his kindness." She ran a hand through her hair and winced at its stiffness. Ayame-neechan had been really generous with the hairspray. "I need a bath first, though. I feel filthy, and my hair's stiff enough to stop a kunai."

The blonde stood shakily, and almost fell against the table. Kakashi almost got out of his chair to help her, but she waved him away. "I'm fine, Kaka-sensei. Just a little tired, that's all."

She made her way out of the kitchen, past Sasuke who was leaning against the fridge.

"You could treat her better, Sasuke," Kakashi said after hearing Naruto close the bathroom door and start bathing. Sasuke didn't reply, and went out of the kitchen into the hall, where he seated himself on the couch with a jutsu scroll in hand. Kakashi followed the brunet lazily and plopped into the sofa opposite.

"She is doing this for you, after all. You should be grateful for the chance to kill Itachi, and at least be nicer to her," Kakashi said after a while. Sasuke ignored him.

"Don't sever this bond, Sasuke. You're important enough to Naruto for her to agree to this. She's grown stronger, and asking for help is not a sign of weakness."

Sasuke looked at the jounin in annoyance. "Killing that man is my duty and my duty alone. Are you finished?" he asked, his last sentence more a statement than question. Kakashi's eye curved up.

"For now," was the cheerful reply. Sasuke glared at him, then returned to the jutsu scroll.

The two men sat in silence while waiting for Naruto. Kakashi noted with some surprise that he felt lighter than he had in years. He had never talked to anyone about Obito, Rin and Minato-sensei before this, because the wound never really healed. But he realized that he felt somewhat better after reminiscing about the happier memories of his younger days with Naruto. It was rather therapeutic, and Kakashi felt more peaceful inside. Also, he could quite describe it, but he felt some positive emotions (relief, perhaps?) that Minato-sensei had left a legacy, someone to continue the Namikaze name and greatness.

Naruto appeared quickly in a fresh t-shirt and shorts. Kakashi noted with mild interest that she kept her fingerless gloves on even though she was in her civvies, so to speak. He glanced at Sasuke's left hand, and wasn't surprised to see that the wedding ring wasn't there anymore. Kakashi sighed internally, but kept from remarking.

"Let's go, Kaka-sensei! I'm starved!" Naruto said loudly as she put on her zori. Kakashi stood lazily and went towards the door. Naruto was already holding the door open in impatience.

"Oi Sasuke! Let's go!" Naruto called. The brunet looked up, face blank. Naruto rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on! What are you waiting for, an invitation?"

Sasuke seemed undecided, glancing at Naruto, and at Kakashi, who was already out the door. He felt he was probably going to regret this later, but he finally put down the scroll and stood up.

"Yay! Hurry up, teme!" Naruto cheered, and walked rather shakily out the door. Sasuke took his time slipping his feet into his zori, and locked the door behind him. The blonde and the silver-haired man were already a few meters in front of him, Naruto chattering happily and Kakashi seemingly oblivious with his nose in the blue book, but Sasuke could tell from his body language that he was watching Naruto carefully, since she was still rather shaky.

Sasuke kept his distance behind them, and started wondering idly who the dobe's father was. Obviously Kakashi knew the man, from the way the dobe was asking him earlier.

The brunet shook his head mentally and abandoned his train of thought, because thinking of fathers reminded him of his own father, and how much he missed his family, and most importantly, it reminded him that he still hadn't killed that man.

"Ramen!" came the loud cry, and Sasuke awoke from his musings to find that they had arrived in front of the ramen stand, and the dobe had already collapsed on the stool and sprawled bonelessly over the counter. His eye twitched a little as he regarded his… wife. Definitely the most unfeminine girl he had ever come across. In a way he was pleased, because he couldn't stand behaviour that was too simpering and girly. But it wouldn't hurt for her to learn some manners, at least. He shook his head a little, then contemplated whether to sit next to Kakashi, who had seated himself on Naruto's right, or to sit next to… his wife.

He decided to sit next to the blonde. Might as well get used to it – he had to live with the dobe, after all. As soon as he sat down, the owner set a steaming bowl of the noodles in front of the blonde, who pushed herself off the counter and happily snapped her chopsticks apart.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun, right? I thought I recognized you! My, you've grown! It's good to have you back. It's been six years, hasn't it?" the man said over Naruto's loud "Itadakimasu!"

Sasuke just gave a curt nod. The man beamed at him. "Naruto-kun here missed you a lot! You were all she could ever talk about whenever she came in here."

Sasuke looked to his right out of the corner of his eye, and noticed Naruto was industriously slurping her ramen, and was obviously looking away from him.

"Beef ramen," he said shortly. The old man beamed at him again. "One beef ramen for Sasuke! On the house, to celebrate your return from your training trip!" He moved to Kakashi, who ordered pork ramen, and disappeared to the back of the stand to prepare the food.

"Training trip?" he asked, placing his elbows on the counter and steepling his fingers.

"Yeah, that's what we told them so they wouldn't know you ran off to Oroch… hey!" Naruto's eyes widened, and she pointed her chopsticks at him. "You talked!"

Sasuke glanced at her and frowned in disgust. "Don't talk with your mouth full, dobe."

He was ignored, and Naruto nudged Kakashi. "Did you hear that? He talked!"

All she got in reply was a gently chastising "Don't talk with your mouth full, Naruto," as the man continued reading his ecchi book, and giggling every once in a while.

"I was starting to think that snake did something to make you unable to talk or something!" she said as she turned back to him and swallowed her mouthful. Sasuke's eye twitched.

"I see you're still as stupid as ever, dobe."

Hurt flashed through Naruto's eyes before they became carefully guarded. "Don't call me that, teme!" she exclaimed loudly and waved her chopsticks at him. Sasuke grunted.

"Hn. Usuratonkachi."

"Sasuke-yarou!"

Sasuke ignored her and started on the bowl of noodles placed in front of him. After fuming for a while, Naruto resumed her attack on her food.

"It was quite the shock to find out you were a girl, Naruto-kun. I couldn't believe Iruka-kun and Ayame-chan, at first," Teuchi said over the counter to Naruto. Naruto looked up and squinted at him.

"Eheheh. Well… it wasn't exactly my intention to delude anyone…" she laughed sheepishly. "Another bowl, ojisan!"

Teuchi chuckled good-naturedly. "Glad to see your appetite doesn't match your gender, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked affronted. "Hey! Girls can do everything guys can, and better too!" she said loudly. "Ok, maybe not _everything_… but girls are not weaker than boys! And I can prove that anytime!"

Sasuke snorted softly beside her, and she rounded on him. "I can beat you anytime, Sasuke! You'd better not think I'm weak just because I'm a girl!"

"Well, your voice definitely isn't weak like a girl's…" he muttered, and raised his noodle-laden chopsticks to his mouth.

Naruto grinned. "I know! I'd hate to sound all squealy and girly!" she said happily.

_I'd hate for you to sound girly, too_, Sasuke thought, but didn't say anything_. Now if only you weren't so loud_.

Naruto turned away from him to start on her second bowl. After her fourth bowl, she straightened with a satisfied sigh.

"Aah!" she sighed, and burped loudly. "'Scuse me. Man, I was hungry."

Kakashi eyed the four large bowls stacked on the counter beside the blonde. "I pity Iruka-san for having to constantly feed you ramen all these years."

Naruto pouted.

_Cute_, thought Sasuke, then he immediately slapped himself mentally. _Where did that come from??_

"Aww, don't be so mean, Kaka-sensei! I was really hungry today, coz I totally forgot about eating yesterday!"

Kakashi sighed as he pulled out his wallet, plucked out a few ryou notes and left them on the counter. "I'm just glad I don't have to feed you everyday. That's Sasuke's job, from now on," he smiled brightly at them, or at least that's what they interpreted his crinkled eye to be.

Naruto squawked indignantly, and Kakashi noted a faint pink on her lightly tanned cheeks. Sasuke just glared at him. He grinned under his mask.

"I'll leave you newlyweds to yourself. Ja!" and he shunshin-ed off.

Naruto crossed her arms indignantly and stomped out of the stand, only to almost bump into someone.

"Ah, sumimasen… Hinata-chan?"

Sasuke stepped out to see the Hyuuga girl accompanied by a man he had never seen before. The black-haired man was dressed in clothes more befitting a samurai than a shinobi. But then again, not all shinobi wore the regulation uniform. Sasuke himself was sticking to his Oto garb, except that the ass-bow had been tossed out and replaced by a dark blue obi having the Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol embroidered at the ends. The loose white kimono-like shirt was easy for him to slip off when he wanted to use level two of the curse seal, so that his wings wouldn't have to tear through his clothes.

And the epitome of un-shinobi-like dressing was standing a little in front of him. Who the heck wore orange when shinobi were supposed to blend in to their surroundings?

"Who's your friend, Hinata-chan? I've never seen you around," Naruto was saying as she looked curiously at the man beside the Hyuuga.

Hinata immediately blushed. "This is Kajimura Takeshi. Takeshi-san, this is my friend Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto-kun."

Naruto immediately offered the man a hand and a smile, both of which were accepted and returned.

"Visiting Konoha, Takeshi-san?"

"Ah, well…"

Hinata spoke up quietly. "Takeshi-san is the youngest son of Hi no Kuni's daimyou. Otousan, Hokage-sama and the daimyou arranged for our… marriage."

Naruto's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Eeh! Nani!"

Takeshi smiled politely at her. "It is true, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. Hinata-san will be taking over as Clan Head in the future, and a marriage between the Hyuuga clan and the Kajimura clan will benefit both the daimyou and Konohagakure no Sato immensely."

"Sou ka… You never told me, Hinata-chan!" Naruto turned to her friend. Hinata blushed faintly.

"Aah… I was only informed of it this morning when Takeshi-san and the daimyou's envoys arrived in Konoha."

"Sou ka… So sudden!" Naruto looked at Hinata sharply, but the girl offered her a calm smile to show she was alright. Naruto grinned at her. "So where are you guys going? On a date?" she waggled her eyebrows at them. Hinata blushed again, and Takeshi smiled a little shyly.

"Well, a date of sorts. I would like to get to know Hinata-san a little better."

"That's great!" Naruto said happily, but she knew in her heart she was envious of Hinata. _At least her husband-to-be doesn't have a stick up his ass,_ she thought moodily. _I'm not exactly hoping for Sasuke to fall head over heels in love with me, but I do wish_ _he would at least be my friend… nah. No need to hope for impossible things. It always hurts more when they don't come true_. Outwardly she said, "If you haven't had lunch yet you should eat here – Ichiraku Ramen! The best ramen in all the Elemental Nations!"

Naruto grinned widely and gestured to the ramen stand. Hinata noticed Sasuke standing near the stand.

"Ah, Sasuke-san. Konnichiwa."

Sasuke merely stared at her expressionlessly with his arms crossed. Takeshi looked a little affronted at the blatant unfriendliness towards his fiancée and was about to say something, but Hinata quickly cut in.

"Takeshi-san, this is Uchiha-Uzumaki Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun's husband."

Takeshi bowed stiffly. "Hajimemashite, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Ah, we have to go, Hinata-chan, Takeshi-san. Gotta go get the stick out of his ass," Naruto said hurriedly, and was relieved when she saw both Takeshi and Hinata give her small, amused smiles.

She quickly stepped over to Sasuke and grabbed his arm, and started dragging him away. "See you around, Hinata-chan, Takeshi-san! Enjoy your date!"

Xx

Xx

Sasuke gripped Naruto's wrist and pulled her hand off his arm, and released her wrist like it was something unpleasant. Naruto turned to him angrily.

"What was that just now, Sasuke-teme?"

Sasuke merely crossed his arms and stared coldly at her.

"Why can't you be nicer to people? It wouldn't hurt, you know!"

"How I want to treat others are none of your business," he stated coldly. Naruto glared angrily at him.

"It IS my business since you're married to me! What's your problem? I know you're all Itachi-killy and all that, but it doesn't mean you have to be such a prick to everyone else!"

"I don't intend to give the illusion of forging useless bonds."

"GAH! You're such a prick!" Naruto fumed and balled her fists at her sides. She turned away from him and was about to walk off when Sasuke suddenly said something.

"Is this because you're jealous of Hyuuga and the daimyou's son's date?" the brunet asked. Naruto turned around to stare at him.

"What?"

"You heard me," Sasuke said. His expression was hard. "Don't expect me to do those sorts of things. I don't want to waste my time on trivial things; I have better things to do. I don't give a damn about this so-called marriage. You're nothing but Itachi-bait to me."

Hurt was evident for a second on Naruto's face before she schooled it into a neutral expression. "Knowing you, I never expected anything from this marriage either. But I was hoping to have my friend back. Evidently, he's gone and you've come back in his stead."

Sasuke sneered at her. "I almost killed you, dobe. That should have been indication enough about the level of our so-called friendship."

Naruto breathed deeply and shoved her hands in her pockets, face to the ground. Her bangs and hair fell forward, hiding her face from Sasuke's view. "Yeah, it should have. But then again, I've always been an idiot, haven't I? To me, you were my best friend – the person that acknowledged me even if only when we were fighting and arguing, someone that I looked up to, however reluctantly. I agreed to this plan of the Council's for your sake, Sasuke. So what if they threatened not to support my nomination as Hokage? I would have found other ways, and proven to them that I am the best for the job. I did this because I wanted you to be safe in Konoha, and have the chance of fulfilling your dream of killing Itachi, although I would warn you that revenge isn't worth living for." She raised her head, but her bangs shadowed her eyes. Her lips curled into a wistful smile, but she kept her voice neutral. "But to you I'm nothing but Itachi-bait, eh? Nothing but the dead-last."

Sasuke watched as Naruto walked away sadly in the direction of their apartment. Inexplicably, he felt guilty for what he had said, and for how hurt Naruto obviously was. He ground his teeth in irritation. _I won't feel guilty,_ he thought harshly. _I'm an Avenger, I don't walk down the same path as the others with their friendships and bonds. I don't care about what she feels, or what she thinks. She is Itachi-bait; a tool. Nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

_

**Glossary-of-sorts**

- zori: sandals

- ecchi: lewd; perverted

- teme: a somewhat coarse or rude way of saying 'you', as in 'you bastard'

- usuratonkachi: moron of morons

- yarou: bastard

- ojisan: middle-aged man; like how in some cultures, those younger call the older men 'uncle'

- ryou: the currency used in Konoha. I'm not too sure whether it's ryo or ryou. If I find out I'm wrong, I'll edit it

- ja: bye

- sumimasen: sorry; excuse me

- daimyou: Japanese feudal lord. Fire Country is ruled by a daimyou – Team 7 had to retrieve the daimyou's wife's cat, Tora just before they got the Wave Country mission

- Konohagakure no Sato: Konohagakure means hiding or hidden in the leaves, sato means village. Thus – Hidden Leaf Village

- konnichiwa: hello; good day (daytime greeting)

**The Author Has More to Say:** Don't worry bout Hinata's little OC. He's not a key player in this fic, and will kindly disappear unless I need him much later in the story. Even then he'll probably have a small part, or just a mention. However, starting from chapter 10 there will be OCs in the story. Don't worry, though, like I mentioned earlier – they're not main characters.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!

**Shameless Self-Advert:** I just uploaded a new fic, In That Moment. If you liked reading this fic, I think you might enjoy that one, too :-)


	9. Chapter 9 Paintings

**The Author Says:** First off, I apologize for the late update. I had an emergency I had to attend to, and ended up traveling almost 800km in less than 24 hours. I love driving, but it was tiring. Hence the late update. I also want to say again that I really appreciate all the reviews and PMs. Hope this late update hasn't caused anyone to abandon this fic :-p heheh. This chapter is more of a filler chapter, but anyways, here's chapter 9! Hope you enjoy.

U/L: 13th December 2007

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy _

**Chapter 9 - Paintings**

* * *

The sun was shining brightly on her back, but she hardly felt it. Instead, her mind was whirling with thoughts on Sasuke.

_Well, it's obvious now what he thinks of me. I should have realized a long time ago that I've lost my friend Sasuke. He's right; he trying to kill me twice is an obvious statement of his 'friendship' with me, _Naruto thought sadly. It hurt a lot to hear him say that he viewed her only as Itachi-bait. Not even as a person, merely a tool. She had known it from the start, but actually hearing him say that proved to be a lot more painful than she thought it would be.

_I'm not going to be depressed over him,_ she decided firmly. _He can choose to be a prick and an idiot if he wants to be, I'm just going to be a friend to him. I've trained so hard all these years to bring him back because I didn't want to lose him, because he's still my friend, so I'm going to be his friend even if he doesn't want to be mine. Coz friends are always there for each other no matter what._

Having made up her mind, she nodded once to herself, then smiled as she looked up to the sky. Directly in front of her was the Hokage Monument, every feature of each face clear in the afternoon sun. Her eyes rested on the face of her father, and she smiled wistfully. Then, she caught sight of Tsunade-obaachan's stone face, and her eyes widened.

"Kuso! Gotta go meet Tsunade-obaachan before she gets really pissed!" she said to herself, then shunshin-ed to the door of the Hokage's office. She took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face, and kicked the door open.

"Tsunade-obaachan!" she called out loudly, grinning as she leaned away from the empty sake bottle that came flying her way and crashed on the wall outside the door.

"Gaki! Learn to knock!" Tsunade said irritably, then looked up in concern. Her eyes roved over Naruto's figure and took in the dark circles around her eyes, the slumped shoulders and the lack of cheerfulness in her eyes, although her face was cheerful as usual. "How're you doing, Keimei?"

Naruto waved a hand carelessly. "I'm fine, obaachan," she replied, and flopped into a chair in front of the desk.

Tsunade narrowed an eye at her, but didn't debate the issue. "Do you want to reveal the Yondaime was your father? I can arrange for a public announcement to be made, although it might land you in a bit of danger due to your father's enemies. I think Iwa hasn't let go of its grudge yet, but I'm sure you can handle yourself just fine. But it's about time the public knows that you are the daughter of the Namikaze Minato…" Tsunade trailed off as she saw Naruto shaking her head.

"No, don't announce it – at least not yet. I want to be acknowledged for who I am, not who my father was. I don't want to be in his shadow," Naruto explained in a determined voice. Tsunade considered what Naruto said, then nodded.

"Very well, if that's what you want. It is your secret, anyway. But I insist that Konoha know the daughter of their hero, if not now then at least sometime in the future. They should see that the girl they've been shunning is in fact the daughter of their hero." Tsunade's eyes gleamed. Naruto gave her a small, tired smile and decided to change the subject.

"What did you want to see me about?" she asked.

Tsunade blinked. "Oh yes. Did Kakashi check up on you?' she asked, and went on as Naruto nodded once, "I called you here to inform you that you have been selected as a jounin instructor for the new genin teams that will be graduating in four days' time."

Naruto's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Nani?" she asked loudly. "Jounin instructor? You mean like Kakashi-sensei?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. As you probably already know, I've restructured the Academy schedule such that the students graduate half a year earlier than when you were a student. The teams will be formed in two days, right after the genin Academy exam. I will view the genin team list on the same day as the exam, and if it looks fine to me, you will be administering the selection test the day after the teams are announced, which would be the day after the exam."

Naruto closed her mouth, and her hand went behind her head to scratch absentmindedly. "You want me to be the sensei of a genin team… aren't I a little too young for that?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Nonsense. You've shown yourself to be competent enough, and leading a genin team is good preparation for you to be Hokage. Inuzuka Kiba and Sabaku no Temari have also been chosen as jounin sensei. Of course, you have to test your genin to see if they are field-ready, so to speak. I believe Kakashi gave your team the bell test?"

Naruto nodded.

"You can use that test, or any test you can come up with. You are not obligated to pass anyone, although I certainly hope you don't use it as an excuse to fail your team just to get out of jounin instructorship for a year."

"Hey! I'm not like that, Tsunade-obaachan! If I promise to be a jounin-sensei, I won't go back on my word! It's my nindo-ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tsunade smiled fondly at hearing Naruto defend her nindo, like she did six years ago at their first meeting. "I know, Keimei."

Naruto grinned at her, then remembered something. "Ano sa, ano sa, obaachan, what's this about Hinata-chan getting married?"

Tsunade massaged her forehead. "Ah, that. Well, a marriage between the daimyou and an important Konoha citizen is politically beneficial to both parties. The idea wasn't mine; apparently Sarutobi-sensei and Kajimura-sama had discussed it a long time ago. The only ones to meet the standards of being the daimyou's in-law were the Hyuuga, since the Uchiha are, well… incapacitated. Hyuuga Hiashi, the Clan Head, was agreeable to the idea, since Hinata could only take over as Clan Head if she was married, since she is female."

Naruto snorted. "That's looking down on girls."

Tsunade gave a half-smile of amusement. "Well, that is Hyuuga tradition, and now it's up to Hinata to correct their views on females. Takeshi-san will be taking up the Hyuuga name. Hiashi was very insistent on that, of course."

The younger blonde nodded at that. "Maa, obaachan, anything else you want to tell me? Coz I gotta go shopping for food. The fridge is empty, the shelves are bare, and there's no ramen at all! How could there be no ramen?" She ignored the Hokage's eye-roll, and struck a good-guy pose. "I will be leaving to remedy the ramen-less situation right away!"

Naruto grinned at Tsunade's amused and exasperated smile. "No, that's all, gaki. Just don't forget to be at the Academy at 1pm sharp in five days. And make sure you get some real food, you hear? Other than ramen!"

With a loud "Not listening!" Naruto dashed off while the Hokage was still talking about real food. Tsunade shook her head fondly. "Ramen-obsessed gaki."

Xx

Xx

"Tadaima!"

Naruto's voice rang out cheerfully as she held open the door with one hand for her kage bunshin to walk in. The bunshin went straight to the kitchen, while the original closed the door and locked it with one hand while carefully holding on to a full bag of groceries with the other.

Sasuke watched her out of the corner of his eye from his seat on the sofa of the living room. It seemed Naruto was cheerful again. The way Naruto spoke to him before she walked away earlier had quite upset him. As much as he wanted to deny it, he felt guilt strike his heart when Naruto had spoken in such a tired, sad, patient tone that was so unlike her usual hyperness. The lack of loud angry shouting was not what he had been expecting. She had obviously been hurt by what he had said, and he had spent the last hour and a half getting the guilt out of his system, but a tiny fraction settled itself in the back of his mind with no intention of going away. Sasuke ignored the guilt the best he could. The dobe was a mere tool towards achieving his goal, and he didn't have to care about the emotions of said tool.

But he couldn't help feel the slightest relief at Naruto's cheerful tone, even though he told himself he was irritated at the cheerfulness and loudness of her voice.

Noises of drawers opening and shutting, plastic and paper crumpling and glass tinkling indicated that Naruto was putting away whatever she had purchased. Knowing the dobe, a large portion of the purchases probably included ramen. Sasuke idly wondered whether she had bought anything other than ramen, and whether she could cook. And whether he would even eat her cooking if she did cook.

Naruto walked out of the kitchen with a bounce in her step, smiling to herself as she recalled how much cup ramen and instant ramen packets she had put away in the kitchen.

_What to do now?_ she wondered as she wandered into her room. Glancing down, she noticed the three photographs and three scrolls. She bent down and picked up all the items carefully, and flopped down onto her back on the bed. Breathing a sigh, she settled the items on her flat stomach and picked up the picture that had both her parents in it. She lifted it up at arms' length and traced the features of her parents' faces softly with a finger of the other hand. Sunlight poured in through the window, whose curtains had been drawn aside since the first time she entered the room two nights ago.

She memorized the details of her parents' faces with a quiet smile on her face. She felt comforted by the obvious happiness she could see in their expressions. She set the photograph down and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, not really thinking of anything. Her hand on her stomach encountered the scrolls that had been sealed into the personal communication scroll, and her eyes lit up.

Hiraishin no jutsu!

Naruto quickly and carefully gathered up everything except the scroll labeled hiraishin no jutsu and kept them in the topmost drawer of her desk, then sat down Indian style on the rug, and excitedly opened the scroll. She smirked to herself – she was definitely going to master it, regardless of whether the scroll was incomplete or not. She would learn her father's jutsu and prove to everyone she was Namikaze Minato's daughter. The Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou would be reborn.

Xx

Xx

Three hours after she first opened the scroll, Naruto felt she had the theory of the jutsu down pat, or at least, as much as she could understand. Sandaime-ojiji had dumbed down the explanations, and annoyed as she was at his obvious opinion of her intelligence, she had to admit she was somewhat grateful for some of the more basic notes, since she realized that she should have known that stuff had she paid attention during her Academy years.

Anyways. She had always been a practical person, and hours of theory could never beat what could be achieved by hands-on practice. Smirking to herself, she opened the scroll further and observed the fuuin inscription carefully, before quickly forming the handseals required.

"Kai!"

A dozen unusual kunai appeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto undid the cord holding them together, and picked up one to observe it carefully. She ran her finger over the raised fuuin kanji on the handle of the kunai, then noted how the kunai was tri-pronged. She bit her lip as she concentrated a tiny amount of chakra from her fingers into the fuuin kanji of the kunai. It had to be only a trace amount, because too much chakra meant others would be able to sense it too, which would do zero for stealth.

The fuuin kanji glowed a faint blue for a second, and Naruto grinned. Getting up, she got her kunai holster out of her cupboard and strapped it around her thigh. _Hmm… I should get a separate holster for otousan's kunai_, she thought. She nodded to herself, placed the tri-pronged kunai into the holster, grabbed Gama-chan from her shelf (grinning to herself when she felt how fat Gama-chan was) and went out of the room and into the living room, and out the door, ignoring Sasuke who was still on the couch reading the jutsu scroll.

Naruto walked down the street towards the weapon shop, excitedly thinking of starting to practice hiraishin no jutsu the next day. She'd go to the open field where Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taichou had taken her to complete the rasengan, and train herself using kage bunshin.

She placed her order with the blacksmith at the weapon shop and pretended not to see the surprised and awed look he gave her when she handed him the kunai. She bought another holster that could be added on to her holster strap, then left the shop and walked slowly back to the apartment. A line of sakura trees entered her vision, and she was reminded of Haruno Sakura, and grimaced. She hadn't revealed to Sakura-chan that she was female, and now that she was married to Sasuke, she knew Sakura would be doubly unhappy, and unhappy was putting it lightly.

Sakura-chan would always say that she wasn't crazy over Sasuke anymore, that she'd gotten over her crush on him, but Naruto knew better, because her eyes would tell a different story from what her mouth was saying. Naruto would have to tell her sooner or later, and if she wasn't mistaken, Sakura and her team would be returning to Konoha in two weeks' time. She shuddered to think of Sakura-chan's reaction, but her shoulders slumped when she realized that it was her own fault after all, for not telling Sakura during the nearly three years' time she had been back from training with Ero-Sennin. They hardly had time for each other outside of missions together, Naruto's missions without her, and Sakura-chan's work at the hospital, and Naruto always gave herself the excuse that there was never a 'good' time to talk to Sakura.

She crossed her arms and lowered her gaze to the ground, letting her blonde hair shadow her eyes, and walked slowly back to the apartment. She pulled out her keys, opened the door and stepped in, then locked the door behind her. Letting out a huge sigh, Naruto drove away her guilt and dread, and forced herself to smile a little, and immediately felt a little better.

Naruto looked around the living room and realized that she hadn't actually observed the place properly yet. She walked slowly around the living room, poking and prodding at the decorations, and looking through the jutsu scrolls in the shelves. Uchiha clan scrolls, she noted. Then she came to the painted shoji screen that sat in a corner of the room. Her eyes sparkled in admiration as she traced the design on the screen, then the traditional paintings that hung near it.

"Oi Sasuke," she called, not taking her eyes off the paintings. "Where did these come from?"

Sasuke raised his head in annoyance to see that the blonde was staring at the paintings that he had taken from his family's house. He set his lips in a thin line.

"They were my mother's," he finally said in a blank tone. Naruto nodded without turning to him.

"They're really, really pretty. I've never gotten the chance to really look at any of these kind of paintings before. Your mother had good taste, ne?"

Sasuke felt a small glow of pride to hear the dobe praise his mother, and then realized he was staring at her stare at the paintings. Naruto had a half-smile on her face and she was biting her lower lip in concentration as she took in the details of each painting.

She wasn't beautiful, Sasuke decided. But she was… attractive in her own way. Maybe a little pretty, too. She looked sweet when she smiled a real smile, and her beautiful cerulean blue eyes always sparkled with life. The three whisker marks (possession marks, Sasuke knew) added to the cute factor. And there was a charisma that she had that drew people to her. He felt his heart flutter a little as he observed her face, then down to her neck and her chest, and slightly-above-average bust, and lean hands and legs. He knew she was muscled; every shinobi worth their chakra had muscles. He couldn't see her figure, because her clothes were rather baggy.

"U-chi-ha Mi-ko-to," Naruto enunciated carefully, her brows drawn together in concentration as she read from the painting. Sasuke was shaken from his observations, not realizing he had lost himself in staring at the dobe. He felt a flush rise to his cheeks, and quickly forced it down.

"What?" he asked, his voice a tinge shaky. Naruto didn't notice, but repeated what she had said.

"Uchiha Mikoto."

Sasuke stared blankly at the jutsu scroll on his lap.

"…She was my mother."

Naruto turned around. "She painted all these?"

Sasuke nodded, not looking up. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Sugoi! Wow! Your mother was really great!"

A faint smile touched Sasuke's lips before vanishing. Naruto plopped down beside him on the couch, and Sasuke turned to stare at her coldly. He opened his mouth to ask her to move, but she started talking before he could get a word out.

"You know, you're really lucky that you have memories of your parents," Naruto said musingly. She tucked her hands under her thighs and kicked her feet back and forth childishly. Sasuke closed his mouth. "I just found out who my parents were, and of all people, Otousan turned out to be _him_. Well, I guess better him than someone like Orochimaru, ne? It's so overwhelming, but you don't know how much I wish I could meet them," she continued quietly, her eyes unfocused and a wistful expression on her face. Sasuke kept quiet, but was itching to ask who her otousan was. Naruto turned to him, a serious look on her face.

"Don't live for revenge, Sasuke," she said. Sasuke's eyes turned hard, but Naruto was unfazed. "I'm serious, Sasuke. I know you consider it your duty to kill Itachi, and I kinda agree with you to kill that bastard, but living just for revenge won't make you happy. And the repercussions of actually achieving your revenge might make you regret it. Revenge isn't everything."

Sasuke glared hard at her. "What do you know, dobe? You don't know what it's like to have your family slaughtered by the person you once looked up to! I'm an avenger, Itachi made sure of that. Revenge is my life," he bit out.

Naruto's eyes looked sad. "You _chose_ to be an avenger, Sasuke. You _chose_ to live your life merely for revenge. Remember Haku – six years ago at Wave Country? He told me something that I've found to be very true – 'You are truly strong when you protect your precious people'. Living and training for revenge won't make you strong. It's when you have something or someone precious to protect that you become strong."

"That's for weak people like you to believe. You don't know the feeling, the need for revenge!"

"On the contrary, Sasuke," Naruto smiled a bitter smile. "I know what it is like to want revenge. I have the Kyuubi sealed in me, remember? You didn't grow up with people staring at you with eyes of hate, despising your very existence! You don't know what it is like to grow up all alone, to know that no one wanted you! I understand the feeling of wanting revenge on those who wrong you. But I don't choose to act on it. I choose to grow stronger to protect my precious people instead of giving in and hurting those around me."

"You don't know what it is like to have your family killed in front of your own eyes; you can never understand why I must kill that man," snarled Sasuke.

Naruto leaned back in the sofa and looked to the ceiling. "Nope, I don't know what it's like to have a real family. But I have Iruka-tousan, and Ayame-neechan, and Gaara, and Sakura-chan, and Kakashi-sensei, and Tsunade-baachan, and Ero-Sennin, and Sai, and even you, Sasuke. If anything were to happen to these people I'd definitely seek revenge, but I wouldn't let it consume me. Just think, Sasuke. You say you're getting revenge on behalf of your family – but when you've finally killed Itachi, what are you going to come home to?"

Sasuke sneered at her, but didn't reply. Naruto got up and went into the kitchen without looking at Sasuke. The brunet trembled faintly in anger, his eyes nearly morphing into Sharingan. The dobe's words had affected him more than he would have liked, and rang truer than he would admit. But revenge was what motivated him all these years; revenge was what spurred him to gain the strength he has now. And it was his duty, self-appointed or not, to hunt down and kill that man._She doesn't know what she's talking about_, Sasuke thought shakily. _She doesn't know what it's like_.

Loud knocks on the front door jarred Sasuke from his thoughts. He pushed the jutsu scroll aside in irritation and went to answer the door.

"What!" he snarled.

Sai's fake smile greeted him. "Hello, Sasuke-kun. How is married life treating you?"

Sasuke's annoyed look melted into a cold expression. "What do you want?" he asked frostily.

Sai's smile grew, "No need to be so cold, Sasuke-kun. I merely wanted to see if Naruto-kun was available for dinner."

Naruto poked her head into the doorway of the kitchen. "Somebody called me?" she asked, with a strand of noodle hanging out her mouth. She licked up the noodle.

"There you are, dickless. I was wondering if you wanted to get some dinner," Sai said.

Naruto appeared next to Sasuke, although she kept a distance from him. "What do you want, Sai?" she growled.

"Dinner; my treat," the man repeated. Naruto perked up.

"Sure! As long as you're paying!" she grinned, and turned to Sasuke, not noticing the slight falter in Sai's fake smile. "You coming, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's answer was to curl his lip at her disdainfully. Naruto rolled her eyes. "Fine, you antisocial bastard. There's some food in the fridge you can cook, or do you want me to buy something back for you?"

The brunet turned on his heel and disappeared into the corridor leading to the bedrooms. Naruto glared at his retreating back and bit her cheek to stop herself from shouting at him. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Sai and shrugged.

"I guess that means he's cooking, then."

Sai smiled at her. "Let's go then, dickless."

Naruto glared at him and swung a punch to his head, which was easily evaded. "Stop calling me that!" she shouted.

Sai's face took on a thoughtful look as Naruto closed and locked the door behind her, grumbling about socially-retarded teammates.

"How about Naruto-chan? Naru-chan? Or Naru-hime?" he suggested innocently, then ran for his life as a red-faced Naruto chased after him shouting loudly.

Xx

Xx

The sun was setting as Sasuke stepped out of the bathroom while drying his hair. He had just cut it so that his bangs were only slightly longer than his chin, and his hair in the back was sticking out as usual. He flicked off the light and made his way to the kitchen, where he turned on the light and rooted in the fridge to find the leftover rice and dishes he had cooked last night when the dobe decided to go out for dinner with the smiling idiot.

_Speaking of the dobe, hadn't heard from her all day_, thought Sasuke, and wondered if the dobe had been given a mission – she'd left the house even before he woke up. He frowned; they'd better not give her missions out of Konoha if he wasn't with her – Itachi might actually get to her, and he'd lose the chance to bait him. He decided to speak to the Hokage on this matter the next time he saw her. He stuck the bowls of rice and dishes into the microwave and punched the keypad to set the timer.

Sasuke leaned against the counter and bit back a grimace as his clothed back touched the cool stone. He had taken a rather rough tumble during training with Kakashi that day, and had hit that particular spot against a rock.

"Tadaima!" Naruto called out from the front door, and Sasuke looked up momentarily. Sounds of bare feet padding on the polished wooden floors could be heard, and he heard her move towards the bathroom and bedroom. The sound of crashing water as she started bathing could be heard, and ceased in about five minutes. Sasuke raised an eyebrow to himself – she was certainly fast, for a girl.

He had sat down at the dining table and started eating. Naruto ambled into the kitchen and blinked at the bright lights.

"Hey Sasuke," she greeted with her head inside the fridge. She stood still for a while, then closed the fridge and reached for an extra-large cup of ramen in one of the cupboards, filled it with water and stuck it in the microwave. She stood tapping her foot against the floor while waiting for it to cook, then let out a happy sound when the microwave dinged.

Naruto sank into one of the chairs at the dining table. "Itadakimasu," she exclaimed happily, and dug into the noodles, her eyes closed in bliss.

Sasuke observed the dobe covertly and saw the obvious signs on exhaustion on her tired face. It rather reminded him of the time they were learning to climb trees in Wave Country – the dobe would always go all out during a training session.

"Where were you?" he asked in a tone that told her he didn't really care.

"Eh?" Naruto looked up from the noodles and opened her eyes, a little surprised that Sasuke was talking. "Me? I was just training."

Sasuke didn't acknowledge her reply, but got up to wash his plates instead. He heard her mutter 'bastard' under her breath, and go back to slurping her noodles. Sasuke wiped his hands on the hand towel hanging by the window in front of the sink and walked out of the kitchen. He paused at the door and half-turned towards her.

"Make sure you don't take any missions that need you to go out of Konoha," he said. Naruto looked at him confusedly, and Sasuke's eyebrows creased faintly in annoyance. "If Itachi gets you while you're out of the village, my chances of getting to him are reduced," he explained in an annoyed tone.

Understanding dawned on Naruto's features before she glared at him. "I can take care of myself, yarou!"

"I doubt that," Sasuke replied coolly, and left the kitchen, ignoring Naruto's shout of "Sasuke-yarou!"

The next four days were the same – Naruto would be gone before Sasuke was up, they'd both train till evening, and Sasuke would arrive home first and cook for himself, and Naruto would tiredly prepare cup ramen for herself. Sometimes she'd try to talk to him, but he ignored her, so she would keep quiet after a 'teme' or two.

* * *

**Glossary-of-sorts**

Kuso: shit. As in the exclamation, not the literal excretory products.

Gaki: brat.

Iwa: stone. As in Hidden Stone Village.

Nindo-ttebayo: nindo means way of the ninja. –ttebayo is part of dattebayo, which is a meaningless exclamation Naruto always uses when he talks in the manga and anime. I didn't include it all the time coz I think you wouldn't appreciate reading the same thing over and over again. Dattebayo is an exclamation that the rougher people, like gangsters and such, use. Sort of like 'tough-guy talk'. In the English dub, dattebayo is covered by 'Believe it!'. No offense to any English-dub lovers, but seriously, watch the English subs. I only watched the English dub once out of curiousity, and didn't even finish it, at that. The horror! Okay, rant over.

Tadaima: I'm home.

Sandaime-ojiji: Sandaime means third generation, as in Third Hokage. Ojiji means old man/grandfather.

Kai: release. To unseal or dispel a genjutsu (illusion technique).

Fuuin kanji: fuuin is seal. Not too sure of the spelling. Will change it if I find it's wrong. Kanji is one group of characters of the Japanese writing. It's actually Chinese characters that have been adopted, and are pronounced in the Japanese way.

Dobe: dead-last, or so I've read from countless other fics.

Gama-chan: gama means toad. It's the name of Naruto's little toad purse. Kawaii!

Sugoi: great, or wow.

Naru-chan, Naru-hime: -chan is a suffix usually used for young children and girls. Hime means princess.

Yarou: bastard.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10 Tests

**The Author Says:** I have been DEPRIVED!!! No internet for almost a month! It was driving me crazy, and I'm sure I had withdrawal symptoms and everything!

On a more serious note, I really apologize for the huge delay in updating. I know I warned that updates would be erratic and sporadic, but I do try my best to update whenever I can. What happened was this: my family moved to a new place. Our phone line got transferred pretty fast, but the lousy ISP took their own sweet time to get our internet fixed up. Those weeks without internet were torture, I tell you!!! The time hasn't exactly been wasted, though, coz I did do a bit of writing in my free time (beams proudly). Thank you to all who reviewed! I hope your interest hasn't died down :-p and in apology I've uploaded two chapters! Hope you enjoy :-)

U/L: 24th January 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 10 - Tests**

* * *

Naruto grinned to herself as she pulled on her favourite orange and black jacket over her Konoha flak vest. Underneath that, she was wearing a snug, short-sleeved orange t-shirt that had the Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol on the sleeves and back over a mesh shirt that went halfway up her neck and halfway to her wrists. She was wearing black long pants that had an orange stripe down the sides of each leg.

Tsunade-obaachan had warned her against too much orange yesterday when she went to confirm her team. She had sulked about it, but obaachan had said that she was now the role model for her team, and orange was not a colour a shinobi should be wearing. She had agreed to tone down the orange only after Tsunade-obaachan threatened to burn all her pants and stick her in skirts.

So here she was wearing her flak vest (a women's vest with the scroll pouches across the abdomen instead of across the chest like the men's, which she hadn't worn before) over her orange t-shirt so that not too much orange would be obvious, and she'd traded her orange pants for black-with-orange-stripes pants. She nodded in satisfaction. That would have to do – no way was she getting rid of all the orange.

Black fingerless gloves were slipped over each hand, and Gaara's bracelet was safely tucked under the material. She affixed her weapons pouch to her rear, and strapped her shuriken holster and double kunai pouch to her thigh. She had loaded the second holster with the tri-pronged kunai to the max, i.e. 6 kunai. The rest, another 94 kunai, were sealed into batches of ten in two sealing scrolls that she put in her flak vest. She hadn't perfected the jutsu yet, but she was definitely getting there. It wouldn't be too long before the legend of the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou would be reborn. _For you, otousan, okaasan. _

Her father's original kunai she kept rolled up in a piece of velvet cloth in her cupboard. Satisfied, she bounced excitedly out of her room and out of the house with a cheerful 'ohayou!' and 'ittekimasu!' to Sasuke, who was in the kitchen.

She bounced happily all the way to the Academy, and saw Kiba and Temari waiting in the teacher's lounge. Kurenai and a few other jounin she had seen around but didn't know personally were also sitting around.

"Yo Naruto!" greeted Kiba, and Akamaru woofed cheerfully beside him. Temari waved her fan in greeting.

"Hey guys," greeted Naruto as she dropped into the sofa next to Temari and stretched.

"Who've you got on you team?" Temari asked. Naruto blinked at her.

"Me? I've got two Hyuuga and one girl… Tanake, I think. You?"

"I've got this year's Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi combination. Tsunade-sama has a huge sense of humour," Temari said dryly as Naruto laughed. "Just because I'm married to the lazy bum doesn't mean I want to be leading lazy bum, junior."

"Heheh! I've got a cousin of mine on my team, another Hyuuga, and one of Shino's cousins, I think. Hokage-sama must have wanted to revive the old team eight, seeing as how good we were," Kiba puffed out his chest proudly, and both Naruto and Temari snorted. Temari was about to retort when a teacher's aide announced that they could go get their teams.

The younger jounin waited for the others to leave with their teams before moving to the classroom. Temari went in first, and came out with a blonde boy, a plump boy and a bored-looking brown-haired girl. Kiba announced himself noisily, as did Akamaru, and Naruto heard a corresponding noisy human and doggy greeting, before Kiba herded his team out and gave Naruto a thumbs-up and a grin, which she returned. She had her hand on the doorframe when she heard a boy speak.

"I hope our sensei is not a girl," came a drawled, cultured voice that reminded Naruto of Neji, except that this voice was arrogant.

"Yes, kunoichi jounin are a joke," the same voice spoke again. Naruto raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Don't underestimate kunoichi, boys. You know that Hokage-sama is a woman, don't you?" Iruka's voice chastised.

"You take that back! Girls are every bit as good as boys!" a shrill voice shouted at the same time.

Naruto rolled her eyes. It looked like her team didn't get along too well, what with someone who seemed to be a chauvinist in the team. Naruto herself personally detested the chauvinistic attitude of some shinobi, and usually challenged them to fights and kicked their asses as well as she could. She loved it when she stood over their prone bodies with fellow kunoichi cheering her on, and the male shinobi shouting desperately at their representative to get up. Unfortunately, Tsunade-obaachan banned her from challenging fellow Konoha nin to fights again, unless it was for sparring or training purposes.

The blonde jounin frowned, then grinned mischievously as an idea popped into her head. A few handseals, and a soft 'kage henge!' later, Uchiha-Uzumaki Naruto the man stood in her place. She'd teach that chauvinist! Nihihihi!

"Team Seven!" she called loudly as she stepped into the class. Iruka-sensei looked up in surprise at the deep voice, and his eyes widened at Naruto's male appearance. Naruto winked at him, and he stared for a moment, before catching on and smiling back at her.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" she greeted out loud.

"Ohayou, Naruto."

Naruto turned to the remaining three students in class, and saw a pair of Hyuuga twin boys. The boys were even dressed identically, and had long dark-brown hair tied loosely in the back. Their hitai-ate were around their necks and their foreheads were proudly bare. They had on a white haori top and dark brown cargo pants. The girl had long, wavy honey-coloured hair which she tied high behind her head. Naruto blinked at her dressing – the girl was wearing a short, bright pink halter neck top, and a blue miniskirt that had slits up both thighs over a pair of dark blue tight shorts that came halfway to her knees. No wonder the Hyuuga twins had such a low opinion of kunoichi.

The blonde clapped her hands. "Meet me at the roof, now." She waved goodbye to Iruka and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

On the roof, she sat on the balcony like she remembered Kakashi-sensei doing six years ago and waited for her genin-to-be to arrive. A few minutes later, the Hyuuga twins appeared, walking with their heads high, and behind them trailed the kunoichi. They sat themselves down on the steps in front of Naruto and looked expectantly at her.

"Alright, Team Seven. I'm Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto. You can call me Naruto-sensei or Keimei-sensei – I don't mind. I like ramen, especially Ichiraku ramen, and getting stronger to protect my precious people. I dislike waiting three minutes for cup ramen to cook, and I hate people who abandon their friends and teammates. My dream is to become Hokage, and surpass all previous Hokage, keep my precious people safe and to live up to my father's name. My hobbies are training and… playing pranks, I suppose." Naruto gave them a goofy smile. "Now introduce yourselves, starting with the Hyuuga on my right." She pointed to one of the boys.

"I am Hyuuga Ichiro. My likes are training and the Hyuuga main family. I dislike some of the Hyuuga branch family members who think they are better than the main family." The boy didn't notice the dark look that passed over Naruto's face when he mentioned his dislike, and continued. "I also dislike girls who think they can become good ninja. My dream is to become as strong as Hiashi-sama, and surpass him. My hobby is reading classical poetry."

"Next," Naruto barked shortly. Her mood had taken a downward turn.

"My name is Hyuuga Nichiro, younger twin of Ichiro-niisan. I like training and the Hyuuga main family. I also dislike Hyuuga branch members who think they are equal to the main family." A vein popped out on Naruto's temple and started twitching, but her students didn't notice, and she remained quiet. "Similarly, I dislike kunoichi because they are weak. My dream is also to become as strong as Hiashi-sama, as well as to maintain the Main family and Branch family order. My hobby is reading classical stories."

"Sl–girl." Naruto barely stopped herself from saying 'slut'. She breathed a sigh of relief when her students didn't notice.

The girl perked up and sent Naruto what she obviously thought was a pretty, seductive smile. The jounin rolled her eyes mentally and just smiled goofily back at the girl, pretending not to realize the obvious meaning of the smile.

"I'm Tanake Eriko," she said in a sultry voice – or at least, as sultry as a twelve-year-old could make it. Which was not appealing at all. "I like handsome older boys and men, shopping, clothes and makeup. I dislike boys who look down on girls because they think girls are weaker. My dream… is to marry a rich, handsome, high-ranking shinobi and be pampered all day long." Naruto resisted the urge to gag, and saw that the girl's teammates were rolling their eyes. "My hobby is to collect pictures and information on all the bishounen in Konoha and the surrounding villages to put into my catal–I mean, my scrap book." She batted her eyes at Naruto, who quickly looked away.

The jounin put a finger on her chin and pretended to think deeply. "My first impression of you guys…" she gave them a huge smile, "is that you are one screwed-up bunch." The smile turned so fake even the girl realized it. Naruto abandoned the smile and frowned at her team, effectively silencing the Hyuuga and the girl who were about to speak.

She took out three paper planes from her weapons pouch, smoothed them and flicked them towards each student.

"Tomorrow you'll be having a survival test with me. This test has a 66 percent failure rate." She smiled maliciously at them, and enjoyed the shocked looks on their faces. No wonder Kakashi-sensei got a kick out of screwing with their minds. "If you fail this test, you'll be sent back to the Academy." The jaws dropped even lower and Naruto's spirits rose. She cackled out loud at their horrified faces.

She pushed herself off the balcony and stood with her hands in her pockets. "Read the papers for further information and meet me at Team Seven's training grounds at 10am sharp tomorrow. It's the one with the Konoha Memorial. Bring your weapons and whatnot." She backflipped to stand on the railing with her back facing them.

"Oh, and by the way," she said, looking over her shoulder at them as if she just remembered something. "A word of advice – don't eat because you'd probably throw up." And she freefell down the building to the sound of the girl's horrified scream, grinning manically all the while.

Xx

Xx

Naruto hummed to herself as she prepared a few bento boxes for lunch after the survival test later that morning. The sun had just risen, and she was already in a good mood as she thought of all the traps she had prepared for her students. She grinned to herself, still not down from her high of mentally scaring the Academy graduates yesterday.

She tucked the bento boxes into her bag, hefted it over her shoulder and left the house, roof-hopping till she reached the familiar training grounds. The nine o'clock sun glared on her back and made her hair gleam like spun gold. Naruto quickly put down her bag and dug out her trap equipment. She made a few kage bunshin and started setting up the traps. All the Narutos had a maniacal smile on their faces, and evil chuckles could be heard sporadically.

Xx

Xx

Eriko skipped up to where three log posts were standing in the ground facing a clearing. Her Hyuuga twin teammates were already there, but there wasn't any sign of their sensei. She stopped in front of the Hyuuga and flipped her honey-coloured hair.

"Ohayou, Ichiro, Nichiro," she chirped. The twins looked at her down their noses with an air of disdain, and muttered their replies. Eriko bristled and opened her mouth to chew them out, but a puff of smoke appeared between her and the twins.

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" Naruto greeted her students cheerfully, still in her male form. She turned to Eriko with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you coughing? You not feeling well?"

Eriko coughed again and glared at the blonde, tried to say something, and coughed again. Nichiro snickered quietly at the girl, and she glared at him. Naruto shrugged and pulled out an alarm clock seemingly from nowhere. She put it on top of the middle log. Ichiro raised an elegant eyebrow.

"This clock is set for noon," Naruto said, and an evil smile started twisting her lips. Her students' faces were starting to show their unease, and Naruto cackled inwardly. "Your objective is to retrieve a bell each," she pulled out two bells with a flourish and tied them to her belt loop that would have held Sasayaki, except that she had sealed the katana in a scroll now in her vest under her orange jacket, seeing as she wouldn't be needing it for the test, "whoever fails to get a bell by the time the alarm goes off fails, will be tied to the log, denied lunch and sent back to the Academy." She laughed evilly at the look of hunger and horror on her students' faces.

"Well!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hajime!"

Eriko disappeared into the trees, but the two Hyuuga slipped into Jyuuken stances on either side of her. Naruto put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at them.

"And why haven't you hidden yourselves like Eriko has?"

"Hyuuga have no need for hiding," Ichiro intoned.

"Is that so?" Naruto drawled, a little ticked off at the arrogant tone. She smirked at them. "Time for a lesson you've obviously missed in the Academy – hiding successfully. Let me refresh your mind." She gave them a two fingered wave and disappeared with a teasing, "Ja!"

Naruto watched her team from her spot in the trees as the twins glared in surprise at the spot where she had been. She laughed to herself, then quickly took off her orange and black jacket and hopped through the trees to where she had set up one of her traps earlier that morning, and hung her jacket on a tree branch in such a way that it seemed she was trying to hide in the branches, so that anyone who tried to grab the jacket would set off the trap.

Eriko crawled through the bushes in an attempt to find Naruto-sensei, grimacing and grumbling under her breath about all the scratches and dirt she was getting in her hair and clothes. "I've had enough of this dirt!" she said disgustedly to herself, and pushed up off the forest floor, only to come face to face with her sensei.

Naruto crossed her arms and looked down at her student, who was sporting leaves and twigs in her hair, dirt all over her clothes, and a sheepish look on her face. Eriko looked uncertain for a while, then pulled out her kunai and charged at Naruto with a shrill battle cry. Naruto snorted in amusement and disappointment, and easily stepped to the side to avoid her student's charge, and nonchalantly stuck out her foot to trip the girl. Eriko went crashing to the ground and howled.

"My makeup!"

The blonde jounin's features twisted into a frown, and she turned around to regard her student, who had stood up and whipped out a pink, lacy handkerchief and was furiously wiping her face. Naruto's eyes hardened, then gleamed in sadistic amusement as her hands formed the seals to her most-used jutsu.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Then came another set of handseals, one that she hadn't used since she discovered her real gender. "Harem no jutsu, Otoko no Version!"

Eriko's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her jaw dropped at the sight of a horde of copies of a naked black-haired, pale-skinned man advancing coolly towards her with seductive smirks on their handsome faces and wisps of clouds covering what mattered. Her thoughts became jumbled up and her mouth formed incoherent words as the men came nearer and nearer, and stretched out to touch her face and hair and hands. She screamed loudly and fainted with a dazed, goofy smile on her face.

The men straightened and stared disdainfully at the sight of the girl on the ground, then stared at each other hard, and before long each turned away with pink-tinted cheeks. Then all but one disappeared with a big puff of smoke, and the remaining one released the oiroke no jutsu to turn back into a blonde male.

Naruto forced the blush on her face to recede while mentally berating herself. Why on earth had she chosen Sasuke's image, of all people, for her harem no jutsu? Thinking of Sasuke's face, black hair, pale skin on his well-built chest that she could see because of his open kimono-like shirt (though she had to imagine the rest of his body)… her heart beat faster and the blush returned to her cheeks.

_What the…?! I'm not some swooning fangirl!_ Naruto berated herself frantically. _Eew eew eew!!_

She shook her head hard as if to fling the thoughts out of her mind and turned to face Eriko on the ground. Heaving a huge sigh, she purposely dragged the girl (instead of carrying her, so that her clothes would dirty even more; _Nihihihi_) and set her in the middle of one of her traps, so that she'd set it off the moment she got up, if she wasn't careful. Naruto clapped the dust off her hands, shoved her hands into her pockets and strolled out of the forest area into the clearing.

She casually walked up to where the alarm clock was sitting on the log posts although in fact she was spreading her senses and on alert. Naruto glanced at the clock and saw that only about half an hour had passed. She half-frowned to herself, then turned around and leaned against the post and stared at the clouds.

Suddenly, four hands shot towards her back and managed to make contact. Naruto stiffened for a moment before disappearing in a puff of smoke and leaving a log in her place.

"Kawarimi no jutsu!" Nichiro said in disgust. He thought they'd nail her for sure. Ichiro hastily turned around when he heard the faint sound of zori crunching the grass.

"Well?" asked Naruto, her hands crossed loosely across her chest. The Hyuuga twins glared at her, then without warning, they attacked using jyuuken. To their surprise, their sensei was able to dodge and block their attacks easily, which was a feat for a non-Hyuuga. They weren't able to close even one tenketsu of their sensei's or even get their fingers near the bells.

Naruto stepped back and smirked at the surprise and irritation on the face of her students, who had leapt back to catch their breaths. Ichiro and Nichiro glared at her in return. While their chests were still heaving, Naruto darted towards them with chakra-charged hands and tapped a spot on their arms before they could even blink.

"Nani!" Nichiro bellowed as he felt the familiar sensation of a tenketsu being blocked. Ichiro quickly pushed back the sleeve of his haori to see that there was indeed a red mark where their sensei had tapped him, showing that the particular tenketsu had indeed been blocked. He looked at their sensei, who was grinning somewhat maliciously at them.

"How…?" Ichiro stared at the blonde.

"Lesson: Never underestimate your opponent, and be ready for anything," she told them, and clinked the bells together with a finger while grinning at them. Both the twins narrowed their eyes at her.

A loud scream broke the silence, and the twins looked up in surprise and a bit of fear. They activated their Byakugan and looked around for the source of the sound. Ichiro was the first to spot Eriko hanging upside down on a rope tied to a tree covered in some liquid substance, the nature of which he couldn't tell from this distance.

"Ah. Eriko must have woken up," Naruto grinned.

"What did you do to Tanake?" Nichiro demanded. Naruto smiled airily.

"Nothing bad, I assure you. Just gave her a glimpse of her heaven."

The Hyuuga twins looked at each other, then darted at their sensei in another round of jyuuken attacks. Naruto adopted a slouched pose and easily dodged and blocked them for a while before getting bored.

"Oi. I'm getting bored here. Aren't you going to use anything other than jyuuken? It's getting too predictable." she asked while blocking Nichiro's hands from her neck and Ichiro's hands from her chest. _They work well in tandem,_ mused Naruto. _Now if only they'd work with Eriko. _

The twins were busy coordinating their attacks and didn't answer her. Naruto sighed.

"I've had enough," she declared, and with a simple wrist movement, sent a chop to their necks and knocked them out. She sighed at them and their Hyuuga stubbornness, shoved her hands into her pockets and went to sit on one of the logs, smiling to herself as she remembered how she was the one who had been tied there, and Sasuke had actually offered her half his bento…

The smile slipped off her face as she couldn't help but contrast the old Sasuke with the one she had brought back. Naruto felt her heart grow heavy. She missed old Sasuke whenever she had to deal with the current Sasuke.

Xx

Xx

Sasuke stared angrily at the back of the silver-haired jounin walking lazily with his nose buried in his little blue book. The man had been extremely late in picking him up from the house, and his excuse had been a flimsy "I had to report to Hokage-sama, and she was drinking sake, and offered me a cup, so I couldn't decline, seeing as she was Hokage…"

It was about half an hour to noon, and they were just reaching Team 7's training ground. The whole morning had been wasted. Sasuke ground his teeth in annoyance, but kept his mouth shut.

Kakashi and Sasuke stepped into the clearing in front of the log posts, and right away they could sense four other chakra signatures – one strong one and three weaker ones.

A burst of loud, familiar laughter came from the forest, and a split second after that came two outraged cries and one outraged scream. The laughter rang through the training area again, and Naruto burst out of the trees, laughing her head off.

"Eh? Kaka-sensei? Sasuke? What are you doing here?" she asked between breaths when she had noticed them. She jogged up to where the two men were.

"The bell test, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, pointing at the bells hanging from her belt without lifting his nose from Icha Icha Dreams. Sasuke glanced at Naruto's waist to see a couple of silver bells there. _Is she testing genin? Since when was she a jounin sensei? And why is she male again??_ he wondered.

Naruto grinned a huge grin at Kakashi. "Yup! The bell test, Naruto version!"

"Sou ka?" Kakashi said idly, his eye curving upwards. He closed his book with a snap and slipped it into his rear weapons pouch. "Better stay on your feet, then."

Three figures ran out of the trees from where Naruto had emerged a few seconds earlier, and Sasuke stared at them. One was obviously a girl and the other two seemed to be twin Hyuuga boys. All were covered in a sticky-looking light brown substance (_honey?_) and had feathers, pink and purple sparkles, leaves, twigs, flour and even eggs all over them.

"Naruto-sensei!" screamed the girl, pointing at the blonde. With another scream from the enraged girl, all three charged towards Naruto, who grinned widely in response and waved to the two men. "Gotta go, crazy genin-to-be after my hide. Ja!"

She ran in circles around the perimeter of the clearing, making sure to keep only a tantalizingly small distance between herself and the lead pursuer, evading the occasional kunai or shuriken.

Kakashi shook his head in amusement and went to lean against the logs. Sasuke followed and glared at him.

"What about training, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked lazily at him. "It can wait a few minutes. Naruto's about done."

Sasuke stiffened in annoyance. "You were already late today. The whole morning has been wasted!"

The jounin lazily flapped a hand at him. "Life's not all about training, Sasuke. Let's just watch your wife for a while, ne?"

The brunet released a huge load of killing intent in anger, but the jounin wasn't even fazed. The genin, whoever, had stopped dead in their tracks, and the girl had started whimpering in fear. Naruto stopped and turned around, and easily pinpointed the source of killing intent to the brunet.

"Oi!" she shouted in annoyance. "I'm trying to conduct a test here! Do you mind?"

Sasuke turned to stare coldly at her. "You're getting in the way of my training, dobe."

Naruto bristled at the insult. "What are you talking about? This is Team Seven's training grounds and I'm Team Seven's sensei! You're the one getting in my way!" she shouted back, arms flying around.

Kakashi made an indistinct noise beside Sasuke. "Oh yeah, I forgot about Naruto taking over our training area."

Sasuke's hands balled into fists.

"Oi! Tone down the killing intent! My genin are about to piss in their pants!"

"No we're not!" Ichiro yelled shakily, but was relieved nonetheless when the oppressing feeling abated somewhat. Naruto turned to grin at them, and they cowered. Before they could move, however, she had a kage bunshin beside her crouched behind each twin. Her eyes glinted evilly and her hands were raised in the tora seal.

"Where did sensei disappear-"

"Double Sennen Goroshi!"

Ichiro and Nichiro went screaming into the air clutching their butts, and Eriko stared wide-eyed and limp. Naruto's kage bunshin dispelled and she stood laughing uproariously with her hands on her hips.

"Hah! Always wanted to do that!" she shouted, and laughed again as the Hyuuga twins limped back to her with outraged and pained expressions. The boys growled at her angrily and she stuck out her tongue at them and grinned.

The alarm rang loudly behind Kakashi, and Sasuke knocked down the clock in annoyance.

"Oi teme! That's my clock!" shouted Naruto angrily. She produced three kage bunshin, which quickly tied up the genin and tossed them over their shoulders, and followed the original back to the log posts, where they tied one genin to each post.

Naruto crossed her arms and stared at them in disappointment, ignoring the two men for the moment.

"Not even one of you managed to even touch the bells," she told them. Ichiro and Nichiro looked away in embarrassment, but Eriko shouted at their sensei.

"You're a jounin! We just graduated yesterday! Of course we aren't up to your level just yet!"

Naruto shook her head. "I wasn't using jounin level skills during the test. Not even once. All jutsu and traps I used were those I learned from the Academy and used to set when I pranked people."

All three genin stared at their sensei incredulously. "It's true!" Naruto said in response to their looks. "If you had worked together from the beginning of the test, you might have been able to get at least one bell."

"But what's the use of getting only one bell? Then two others would have to be sent back to the Academy!" Ichiro argued, and his teammate and twin nodded in agreement.

"The test was set up to see if you'd fight amongst yourselves or work together. While I'm pleased that you at least learned to work together at the end," Naruto said, "Ichiro and Nichiro – you rely too much on jyuuken and Hyuuga skills. You won't be able to get far if you depend too much on them, because you won't be able to anticipate your enemies' attacks, since you're so used to sparring only with Hyuuga. Also, you looked down on Eriko, thinking that she was just a useless girl instead of a teammate."

The blonde turned to Eriko. "And you, for shame! You shouldn't be distracted by a such a simple technique! I developed the jutsu when I was still in the Academy, and defeated Iruka-sensei, Sandaime-ojiji and the Closet Pervert with it… but still! You worry too much about your appearance. Get this into your head – ninjas will get dirty. You'll have to sleep on the ground, in caves or in trees during missions, you'll have to go without baths for weeks on ends, you won't have time to put on you makeup while on missions!"

"Kunoichi are useless," muttered Ichiro, and Nichiro murmured assent. Naruto frowned at them.

"So you think you would have gotten the bells if I was a female jounin instead of a male?" she asked, her eyes glinting dangerously. The two boys nodded confidently, and Naruto smirked at them.

"Kai!"

Suddenly their sensei's features became female, and her chest protruded out, and her hips became more curvy than earlier. The genin stared open-mouthed, and Kakashi chuckled lightly behind them.

"Guess what, boys," Naruto said dryly in her real voice, "I'm female. 100 female – two X chromosomes and everything. Before you ask, Ichi and Nichi," she said, seeing that they were about to speak, then ignored their indignant protests at the nicknames, "That was a kage henge. A Kage level henge that the Byakugan and Sharingan cannot see through because it uses the normal chakra flow of the person's body to maintain the henge, which physically transforms the person. But of course, even with the physical transformation, I was still female, with a female's capacity and ability."

The Hyuuga twins flushed in shame, and Eriko followed suit when she remembered thinking that her sensei was very handsome, and was on the verge of adding him to her catalogue.

"Never underestimate your opponent! Let your opponent underestimate you, but you should never relax your guard, and you should never discount your teammate, because they could be the ones who pull you out of sticky situations that you would never get yourselves out of. I learned one thing early on – those that disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash."

Eriko looked at their sensei to see that she seemed to be talking to someone behind the posts more than to Team Seven. Her eyes were a little sad.

Naruto took a breath and closed her eyes. "Should I, or shouldn't I?" she murmured to herself. The genin stared at her hopefully, trying to impart their wishes into her mind.

The blonde's eyes opened and stared at them. Ichiro, Nichiro and Eriko stared back at the beautiful cerulean blue eyes. For a long, tense moment, they stared at each other, then Naruto's whisker marks crinkled as she smiled at them. Eriko melted at the smile, and Ichiro and Nichiro found their usual cool attitude weakening at their sensei's beautiful smile. Behind them, Sasuke stared at Naruto's smile, never having seen such a genuine smile on her face.

"You pass!"

"Huh?" Eriko blurted out intelligently, then her eyes widened. "We pass? We pass! We pass!" she chanted happily. Ichiro and Nichiro exhaled in relief on either side of her.

"Don't be too happy just yet," Naruto warned. "I passed you because you managed to work together towards the end of the test. Now that you're officially a team, I expect the teamwork to get better. You'll learn to respect and work with your teammates and me, and if I don't see any progress, I might just send you back to the Academy."

The genin nodded dumbly. Naruto became even more serious than earlier, and sat down in front of the three.

"Now… I've passed you, but you have to decide whether you want me to be your sensei or not," she began. Eriko cut her off.

"Of course we want you, Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto glared in her direction and she kept quiet. "There's something you need to know about me first. I'm sure you know that eighteen years ago the Yondaime managed to defeat the Kyuubi no Kitsune at the cost of his life?"

Kakashi lowered his trashy novel and narrowed his eye at his former student. "Naruto," he said sharply; warningly.

Naruto looked up at him. "I know what I'm doing, Kakashi-sensei. They have the right to know if they're gonna be my students."

Kakashi didn't continue, but Naruto could tell he wasn't very happy about it. Eriko strained against her ropes trying to look behind her.

"Kakashi? As in Copy Nin Kakashi?" she asked excitedly. Even the Hyuuga twins perked up. "He's like, one of the most handsome men in the village! And he was your sensei? Kyaa!"

Naruto rolled her eyes and glared at her. "He wears a mask across his lower face and covers one eye, Eriko. I don't understand how you can tell whether he's handsome or not. He could be hiding buckteeth or fat lips under that mask."

She cleared her throat and ignored Kakashi's mock-hurt "Naruto!".

"Now, back to the Kyuubi. What I'm about to tell you, you are not allowed to tell anyone else without my permission. Eighteen years ago, Ot- the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi by sacrificing his life to seal the youkai into a newborn child – the only way to defeat a demon. I was that newborn child. In other words, I'm the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

A tense silence filled the training ground.

"Are you done, dobe?" Sasuke's cold and indifferent voice stated after a while. "I need to train."

Naruto bounced up and bristled. "Don't call me that, teme! I'm working with my team here!"

Sasuke's upper lip curled faintly. "Your team? That's a joke. They must have made a mistake promoting you to jounin."

The blonde pointed angrily at him. "Hah! You're just jealous, Mr. Genin!"

Sasuke snorted. "I don't care about rank. I may be a genin in rank but I can still beat you, dobe."

"Oh yeah? I can kick your ass anytime, Sasuke! Bring it on!" Naruto yelled, and shunshin-ed to the middle of the clearing. "What'cha waiting for, yarou?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, and Kakashi warned him, "Don't underestimate her." Sasuke scoffed and shunshin-ed to where Naruto was waiting. If she wanted to be embarrassed in front of her prospective students, he'd be more than happy to put her in her place.

With a loud cry, Naruto charged at him with two kunai in each hand. Sasuke dodged her easily, then whipped out a foot towards her head but missed as she fluidly bent down as she spun on her foot. Sasuke whipped out his Kusanagi and started thrusting in her direction. Naruto jumped clear of his range and unloosened a scroll pouch on her vest so that a small summoning scroll fell out. Without handseals, she created a kage bunshin to occupy Sasuke as she bit her thumb and smeared the bit of blood on the scroll as she opened it.

"Katana no kuchiyose!" she said, and her students watched in awe as a beautiful katana with a red spiral hilt-guard and orange wrappings on the hilt appeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto quickly tied the katana to her belt loop and unsheathed Sasayaki. She smirked at Sasuke and dispelled her kage bunshin. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, Sharingan spinning.

They engaged in a swordfight, and Sasuke was chagrined to find that even with the Sharingan, he couldn't predict Naruto's movements accurately enough. For starters, she wasn't using any Konoha-styled kenjutsu that Orochimaru had taught him. Also, her movements on the whole were unpredictable to the point that even though her chakra shadow indicated that she was moving in one direction, she could actually suddenly change her movements at the last second – something no one else he had encountered before had been able to do. He frowned at the smug smirk on her face.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto, their swords crossed. Sasuke's chokuto was crackling with chidori nagashi, but Naruto's katana was glowing a pale blue and seemed to have wind whirling around the blade. Most of all, chidori nagashi didn't affect it in the least. Naruto grinned smugly at him, and pressed her blade onto his. Her glowing katana sliced through the metal of his chokuto like butter, leaving a shallow, fine cut since she hadn't pressed hard. Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, then narrowed in anger and realization. _Fuuton chakra!_

He leaped back and sheathed his Kusanagi in one movement, then flashed through some handseals.

"Katon: gokakyou no jutsu!"

A large fireball flew towards Naruto. The flames blocked Sasuke's view of the blonde, but he suddenly felt her chakra signature and killing intent behind him, and quickly closed his mouth and turned around with a kunai in hand. _How could she have moved in time?_ He noticed Naruto was using an unusual tri-pronged kunai as well as the normal ones as they engaged in a taijutsu battle.

From his position crouched on the middle log, Kakashi stiffened and narrowed his eye as he saw Naruto throw a kunai to land behind Sasuke, then disappear in a yellow flash as the fireball came towards her.

"How'd sensei do that?" Eriko wondered below him.

"I thought the Yondaime was the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou…" mused Nichiro.

Kakashi smiled to himself and chuckled. The noise startled Eriko, who strained her neck upwards to look. Her eyes widened at the sight of the famous Copy Nin Kakashi crouched above her.

"Watch the spar," he said without looking at her. "You might never get to see such a fight again."

"Is Keimei-sensei really that strong?" Ichiro asked. Nichiro added, "Who is that man? I've never seen him in Konoha."

Eriko peered at the black-haired man, trying to observe his face, but the man was moving too fast. "I seem to have seen him before…" she trailed off.

Kakashi didn't answer the genin, but kept a close eye on the two former members of Team Seven.

Naruto just used a Doton jutsu to summon a wall of mud to protect herself from Sasuke's ryuuka no jutsu. Her hands flashed through some handseals and she concentrated hard to find and sift through the faint signals of her own chakra that were in the hiraishin kunai she had scattered about. _That one!_ She decided, and in a flash of yellow, she disappeared from behind her mud wall to appear to Sasuke's left, instead of directly behind him like she had originally intended. She muttered a curse, then created some kage bunshin without handseals and vanished into the ground while Sasuke was fighting her bunshin.

Sasuke attacked and blocked the kage bunshin and quickly dispelled two of the Narutos, and was left with one who seemed to be the original. She had taken a few hits but was still solid, though she was panting with exertion. Without mercy, he threw unsheathed Kusanagi and pointed it at her heart in one smooth movement.

"You lose, dobe, as always."

Sasuke smirked, then stiffened as he felt cold metal against his neck.

"I don't think so, Sasuke," Naruto's voice was triumphant. The Naruto in front of him vanished in a puff of smoke.

From the log posts, Naruto could hear her genin team gasp in astonishment, and she grinned to herself. She was about to lower the kunai that was against Sasuke's throat when he spun around and hooked a foot behind her shin and tugged forward, causing her to lose balance and fall backward. Her hand that had the kunai was now around the back of Sasuke's neck, and his eyes widened a fraction in surprise as he was forced forward with her. Onto her.

* * *

**Glossary-of-sorts**

- Ittekimasu: I'm off; see you later

- Hajime: start

- Otoko: man

**The Author has More to Say:** Darn I'm longwinded. That was one heck of a long chapter. Don't expect all chapters to be this long! Heheh. And sorry bout the sucky fight scenes. I suck at fight scenes.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	11. Chapter 11 Dreaded Confrontation

**The Author Says:** Again, I apologize for the huge delay in updating (bows humbly). Also, this is the second chapter I uploaded today, so go back and read chapter 10 if you haven't already done so :-)

U/L: 24th January 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 11 – Dreaded Confrontation**

* * *

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and a fierce blush crept across her face when she noticed that Sasuke's face was mere centimeters away from her own. Her whole body tingled when she realized that Sasuke was pressed down onto her – chest to chest, stomach to stomach, and his hands and legs were on either side of hers. And her kunai-holding hand was still around Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke stared down at Naruto's eyes and saw the intensity of emotions and thoughts that raced through the cerulean blue irises. He was rather… mesmerized by her eyes, then blushed a faint pink as he realized he was on top of her, and his lips were so close to hers. He stayed frozen, his heart rate increasing as he stared down at the blonde. His obsidian eyes took in the details of her face – the whisker marks, her unique blue eyes, the shape of her nose, the curve of her lips…

Naruto felt herself melting and her heart rate increasing as she looked into Sasuke's deep black eyes. At the same time, she felt somewhat sad to see that his eyes were so guarded and blank. She shut her eyes tightly and cleared her throat.

"Erm, Sasuke? Would you mind getting off me? You're pressing against my breasts, and it isn't really helping with the bindings and all."

Sasuke's haze cleared in a split second and he jumped up off her as if he'd been burned. He turned away from her and willed down his blush, and pretended to dust off his clothes. Naruto quickly jumped up as well and forced her blush down as she strode towards her genin team and Kakashi-sensei.

"Well," she said, ignoring Kakashi-sensei's meaningful and rather lecherous grin. A kage bunshin appeared beside her and walked off behind some bushes, and came back carrying a backpack. It set the backpack down and vanished. Eriko was the first to recover her voice.

"That was Awesome, Naruto-sensei!" she squealed. "You totally rock!"

Naruto shot her a grin. "I know."

The Hyuuga twins snorted in unison, and Naruto's grin widened. She plopped down onto the grass in front of them and dug out five bento boxes from her bag, and opened one. The smell of food wafted through the air, and the genin stared hungrily at the bento box. Naruto grinned evilly.

"What's the matter? Didn't you take your breakfasts?" she asked innocently, then plugged her ears as Eriko shouted shrilly at her about her instructions on skipping breakfast.

"That was just a suggestion!" Naruto defended herself. A snap of her fingers and the ropes around her genin fell away, and they stumbled forward, rubbing their arms where the ropes had been. Naruto handed them each a bento box and a pair of chopsticks, then stood up to give Kakashi-sensei one as well. The silver-haired jounin raised his eyebrow.

"I made extra, coz I thought I'd be hungry after the test," she explained. Kakashi took the bento.

"I didn't know you know how to cook, Naruto."

"Oh," she plopped back down onto the grass in front of her happily eating team and started on her own bento, "Iruka-tousan had Ayame-neechan teaching me, coz he said that every girl should know how to cook. Bah!"

Eriko looked up from her food. "Iruka-sensei? From the Academy? He's your otousan?" Even the Hyuuga twins looked up.

Naruto shook her head with her mouth full of rice. She swallowed, then explained, "Nope! He's my sort of adopted father. He kinda looks after me a little, and nags lot, so I call him Iruka-tousan." She grinned as Eriko laughed and the Hyuuga twins cracked a small smile.

Sasuke came back to the posts and marched up to Kakashi, who had finished his food in record time as usual and was currently giggling in his book, seemingly not realizing that the genin were giving him disturbed looks every now and then.

"Training," he stated coldly. Kakashi looked lazily at him.

"It's lunch break, Sasuke."

Sasuke folded his arms across his chest and stared in annoyance at Kakashi. His stomach grumbled inaudibly in hunger, and the sound of the four nins still eating wasn't helping. Suddenly, a half-eaten bento was thrust under his nose.

"Here," said Naruto, looking away. "I bet you're hungry."

Sasuke curled his lip in disgust even though his stomach was screaming at him to take it. "I don't want your food."

Naruto pushed the box into his chest. "Just take it already. I can see you're hungry. Just think of it as me returning a favour from six years ago, okay?"

Kakashi's eye curved up in amusement. "You mean six years ago when you got tied to the post and Sasuke offered you his lunch?"

Eriko squealed. "_You_ got tied to the post, sensei?"

Naruto flushed in embarrassment. "Kaka-sensei!" she screeched indignantly, to which Kakashi just gave her his happy eye-crescent. Sasuke stared at the bento box for a long moment, then finally reached out and took it. He sat on the ground and started eating.

"Finally! It's not like I poisoned it or anything," Naruto grumbled. "Stubborn bastard."

Eriko's eyes popped as she realized something. "Naruto-sensei! Isn't he the man I saw nak-"

Naruto's eyes widened in alarm and she quickly slapped a hand over the girl's mouth. All the nin turned to the two. Eriko pushed away Naruto's hand.

"Yeah! It's the same guy! Black hair, pale skin and that face!"

Nichiro looked at Naruto in puzzlement. "What's she talking about, Naruto-sensei?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" Naruto said, flustered, and stared meaningfully at Eriko, who gulped and nodded, then narrowed her eyes as she glanced from Naruto to Sasuke and back to Naruto.

"Are you related to him, sensei?" she asked, and pointed at the Uchiha-Uzumaki symbol visible on Naruto's t-shirt's sleeves and Sasuke's back.

"Huh?" Naruto moved her hand away from the girl's face. Sasuke looked at them from the corner of his eye.

"You are both wearing the same symbol," clarified Ichiro.

"Oh!" understanding dawned on Naruto's face. "Uh, yeah… I guess you could say we're related…"

Sasuke snorted softly in derision. "Unfortunately," he muttered into his food loud enough for everyone to hear. Naruto's features darkened.

"What?"

The man put his unfinished bento down carelessly and threw his chopsticks into the box in an obvious sign of disgust. He stood up and placed one hand on his hip and the other was pressing casually on the hilt of Kusanagi.

"I said, 'unfortunately', dobe. It's unfortunate that I have to be _related_ to such a weak, useless usuratonkachi such as yourself." Sasuke turned around coolly and stalked towards Kakashi, who looked at him with obvious disapproval and displeasure. Sasuke stared coldly at him. "Training. Now."

Kakashi glanced at Naruto, who was on her feet, clenching her fists. She was trembling, probably in anger, and her bangs covered her eyes since she was looking down, so that he couldn't see her face properly. Her lips, he noticed, were set in a thin line. He shook his head at Sasuke; the boy had definitely crossed the line, what with degrading Naruto in front of her students.

"I'll be fine, Kaka-sensei," Naruto said in a tight voice. Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then nodded at her and whipped out his book, buried his nose in it and walked off with Sasuke trailing behind.

Naruto clenched her fists so hard her short nails were digging painfully into her palms.

"Naruto-sensei?" came Eriko's voice, softly.

The jounin took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a second, and looked up at her students with a smile plastered on. "No worries, guys, I'm fine." She gathered up the bento boxes with her team's help and stuffed it into her backpack as she created and sent a kage bunshin to retrieve her jacket and five to retrieve her weapons and trap equipment. Once the bunshin returned she stuffed the jacket into her backpack and straightened, then kept her kunai and shuriken and sealed Sasayaki.

"Thanks, guys. That's it for today – you guys better go home and get cleaned up," she said, and swung the bag over one shoulder. "If you decide that you're okay with having me for your sensei-"

"Of course we're fine with it, Naruto-sensei! You totally kicked that man's ass!" Eriko exclaimed. The Hyuuga nodded a little hesitantly.

"Think carefully, guys. It's different having me for a sensei, or a friend even – people will think of you differently for associating with me. Take tonight to decide, and if you're okay with it, meet me here tomorrow at nine for our first mission." Naruto smiled at them. "Ja!"

She disappeared without even a puff of smoke.

Xx

Xx

Naruto paced about in front of the Konoha KIA Memorial as she waited for her team to arrive. If they were going to arrive, that was. It ate at her to wonder whether they would think of her as a monster, like the rest of Konoha did. Although some villagers and shinobi were beginning to change their minds about Naruto, something for which she was very happy about.

It wasn't nine in the morning yet, but Naruto had had a tough time sleeping last night, what with Sasuke's hurtful words and anticipation about the genin's decisions. She paced a bit more, then decided to summon a kage bunshin – a more solid version of the kage bunshin, actually, that her Suna friends named the kuso bunshin since it could fight much like the original and was a great diversionary tactic – and spar with it. Within minutes she was working out her nervous energy.

She delivered a killing blow to the bunshin, who couldn't evade it and disappeared in smoke. Naruto bent down and rested her palms on her knees, taking in deep breaths to cool down. She wiped the bit of sweat that had formed on her brow and went to stand in front of the KIA Memorial again. This time, an idea struck her and she knelt down and started reading the names until she came to the one she was looking for.

Namikaze Minato.

She felt her lips curl in a small smile as she traced the engraved kanji with a finger, just letting her mind relax, not consciously thinking of anything. Her whole body started relaxing, but she suddenly stiffened again as she heard the sound of footsteps crunching the dead leaves behind her. She gave the engraving one last fond touch and stood, whirling around to meet the person behind.

"Ohayou, Naruto-sensei!" Eriko greeted cheerfully. Naruto felt partially relieved, and smiled back at the girl.

"Ohayou Eriko!" Naruto fidgeted for a while as Eriko stared at her. "So your decision…?"

"I told you since yesterday, sensei, you're stuck with me!" Eriko exclaimed cheerfully. Then she sobered. "My parents didn't like it, at first. They said they'd heard people say all sorts of bad things about you. I almost shouted at them, and we were in the market at that time. Then this huge guy, who'd be a yakuza boss if Konoha ever had yakuza, comes up and asks if we were talking about you, and I said we were, then he said anyone badmouthing you would answer to him. So my parents were pretty surprised and decided to allow me to be in your team for now, but I told them it'd be a permanent thing, and they wouldn't have any say coz I'm a genin now, and an adult." Eriko beamed at her sensei, and was gratified to see her sensei's grateful smile.

Naruto's eyes snapped up and saw Hinata leading the Hyuuga twins towards them, and put on hold thoughts of inquiring just who the 'yakuza boss' was and why he would stand up for her.

"Ohayou, Hinata-chan!" she called out. Hinata gave her a smile and a quiet "Ohayou, Naruto-kun."

"Ohayou, Ichi, Nichi," Naruto turned to the boys, trying to forestall any disappointments with a bit of humour. Hinata giggled softly at the nicknames and at Naruto's raised eyebrows when she saw matching black eyes on the twins.

"What happened to you?"

The boys looked away, and Hinata gently cleared her throat. "They were silly enough to voice doubts concerning your gender and… stability as a jinchuuriki in front of Neji-niisan. He gave them a black eye each, and they tried to activate his caged seal, so I blackened their other eye."

Naruto glared at them and growled low in her throat, releasing killing intent at the same time. "You dared to try and activate Neji's seal?" she asked dangerously. The twins took a step back and dared not look Naruto in the eye, and Eriko was trembling at the force of Naruto's killing intent. Hinata swallowed and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"It is alright, Naruto-kun. I have dealt with them, and I trust they will learn to respect Branch House members under your guidance. It will be easier for them if they do, because I plan to reunite the Houses when I am clan Head," Hinata said in a placating tone.

The blonde took a deep breath and turned to her friend with a huge smile. "Serious? That's great, Hinata-chan! When I become Hokage we'll work on it together! Yoshi!"

Hinata smiled at Naruto and took her leave. Naruto turned to her genin.

"Yare yare. You guys are stuck with me now. You are my first genin team, but one thing I promise you – I'll train you as best as I can, and protect you to the best of my ability as your sensei. And I never go back on my word, coz that's my nindo!" Naruto told them. Eriko nodded and grinned enthusiastically, while the Hyuuga twins looked cautiously at their sensei.

Naruto crouched down in front of the twins. "Look here, brats. I cannot tolerate people who look down on others just because of gender or Branch House and Main House or fate or whatever crap you can come up with, and you must have come up with some serious crap if you actually got Neji to hit you – I mean the guy's like an ice cube and hardly anything riles him up, and you guys have a black eye each from him. But Hinata-chan said she's dealt with you, and I'm going with that for now, although I'm itching to beat you up for insulting Neji, who's a good friend of mine. But if you're going to be my students, you're gonna have to wipe that shitty attitude and learn some respect. Okay?"

The twins looked up and nodded a little reluctantly. Naruto smiled at them. "Good. So starting from now, your page in my book is clean. Make sure you don't force me to put down black marks against your names, alright?"

"Hai, sensei!"

Naruto sprang up and gave them the good-guy pose, which Eriko cheerfully copied and the Hyuuga twins turned their noses up at. Naruto gave them a huge grin.

"Yoshi! Let's go get Team Seven it's first ever mission!"

"Yoshi!" echoed Eriko enthusiastically.

Naruto lead the way to the Hokage Tower, grinning happily and in relief.

Xx

Xx

"Tsunade-obaachan!" Naruto sing-songed obnoxiously, and immediately ducked to the left to avoid the scroll thrown at her. Unfortunately Ichiro, who was directly behind her, didn't see and thus didn't manage to avoid the makeshift missile in time and got hit right on the forehead.

"Ow…" he moaned softly and rubbed the red spot tenderly. Eriko sniggered at him, and Naruto turned around apologetically.

"Ah, sorry bout that, Ichiro. Always best to duck when you come with me to see Tsunade-obaachan," she said sheepishly, a hand behind her head.

"Gaki!" came Tsunade's annoyed voice, and Naruto spun around with a grin.

"Ohayou, obaachan!" she greeted. The other ninja in the Missions Room rolled their eyes but didn't pause in what they were doing – it was already a common occurrence for them.

Naruto felt a tug on her pants and looked down at Eriko. "Isn't that the Hokage, Naruto-sensei? Shouldn't you call her Tsunade-sama?" she whispered loudly.

"Listen to your student, gaki!" Tsunade interjected loudly. Naruto crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

"You're old, obaachan!" she said, and dodged a rain of scrolls, brushes and ink-bottles, grinning the whole time.

"Ne, ne, obaachan! Team Seven reporting for duty!" she proclaimed loudly and proudly once Tsunade was taking deep breaths to calm herself. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the approaching team.

"So you passed them, eh?" the Hokage asked. Naruto nodded, then frowned at Tsunade's frown. "I thought I told you to lay off the orange, Keimei?"

Naruto raised her eyebrows at the older blonde. "I did! I'm not wearing the orange jacket anymore, or the orange pants!"

Twin snorts sounded from the Hyuuga twins, as if to say, 'what kind of ninja wears orange?'. Naruto bopped them on the head with her two hands without turning around, and Eriko sniggered again.

Tsunade narrowed an eye and pointed at Naruto. "You're wearing an orange shirt, and your pants have orange stripes, Keimei."

The younger blonde pouted. "But my t-shirt's covered by the green vest, and there's only so little orange on my pants! Please, obaachan? I love orange! Please? Please?" she turned the full force of her puppy dog eyes on the Hokage.

Tsunade twitched as she saw the expression on Naruto's pleading face, and twitched more as she noticed the curious and interested looks of Naruto's genin team. She sighed; she knew she would give in anyways – she could hardly deny the younger blonde small favours like these anyways.

"Fine," she sighed, and Naruto cheered loudly. Ichiro and Nichiro turned away in shame, and Eriko cheered along with their sensei. "Team Seven," the Hokage continued, smirking evilly, "your first mission is to retrieve the daimyou's wife's cat, Tora."

Naruto groaned loudly.

Xx

Xx

Team Seven had been in existence for about a week so far. They'd gone on a lot of D-ranked missions, and been put through the hell Naruto called training. She made them run laps, do push-ups, spar, and corrected their taijutsu to the best of her ability. She had also gotten them started on tree-climbing to develop their chakra control and increase their chakra reserves.

Team Seven soon learned that although Naruto-sensei was a great prankster who loved ramen, laughing, ramen, sparring and ramen, she was serious when it came to training, and would not tolerate slackers and half-baked excuses to get out of training or practice at home. They noticed that she was especially concerned about teamwork, and would lecture them if any one of them decided to play solo ranger or ignore a teammate during missions and even during training.

Naruto-sensei had talked some sense into Eriko, because on their second day as Team Seven, she had come dressed in a less striking shade of pink, and her clothes, though basically still in the same style, had more cloth on them. The Hyuuga twins suspected that there were threats involved, since Iruka-sensei had tried to reason with her while they were still in the Academy, but to no avail. Eriko vehemently denied any threats, but wouldn't say anything else. Her attitude towards training improved drastically, something the Hyuuga twins were grudgingly impressed with, although she still carried her 'catalogue' of bishounen along with her, and could be found flipping through it with a dreamy smile when they rested.

Naruto-sensei was a fun person to be with, a good sensei who listened to them and took them seriously, and treated them like adults when the situation called for it, and like kids (and behaved like a kid herself) at others. All in all, none of the genin would even think of wanting to be under another sensei.

The four of them would usually eat one meal together – sometimes lunch, other times dinner. Today was once such day – the four of them were at Ichiraku Ramen. Eriko was chatting loudly about some handsome man she had seen earlier to Naruto, who seemed a little spacey. The Hyuuga twins exchanged looks – Naruto-sensei had had a look of slight worry the whole day yesterday and today, but would just grin at them and change the subject when asked.

Xx

Xx

"I've missed Konoha!" Ino exclaimed loudly as the four nin stepped wearily through the gates. Lee nodded enthusiastically.

"It is good to be back in the beautiful village of our youth!" he agreed, and Tenten rolled her eyes. Sakura ran a hand through her hair and grimaced at the grimy feeling.

The four of them walked towards the Hokage Tower together. The sun had just set, and streetlights were starting to come on. Restaurants and food stalls were busy as villagers and shinobi were eating dinner. Sakura's stomach growled.

"Hey, how about stopping for dinner before we submit the report?" she suggested. "After all, we haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

Tenten and Ino nodded, and Lee gave her a thumbs-up. "Yoshi! A brilliant suggestion by the youthful Sakura-san!"

Sakura smiled indulgently at him, and lead the way to the nearest restaurant. They seated themselves and were handed the menu. The waiter walked off to wait for them to decide. Sakura flipped open the menu to search for the most appealing dish. She meant to pamper herself a little – the mission had been a draining one.

"I know!" came an annoyingly shrill voice from the table next to theirs. "I couldn't believe it myself at first, but mommy said our Clan Head was the one to tell her, and he attended the wedding himself!"

"I still say it's unbelievable!" her friend said. "I mean, he appears after six years out of the blue, then suddenly one week later he's married?"

Sakura turned sharply to the two women at the next table, who were sipping some drinks and absorbed in their conversation. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion; there was only one person she knew of who just appeared after six years of absence. Could it be him? But - married? In her mind, Sakura nervously urged the two women to continue gossiping. They unwittingly obliged.

"And they say he married _that_ person!" the second woman said in a disgusted tone. "Out of all of us, he chose her!"

"It was such a shock to know that _he_ turned out to be a _she_!" the first shrilled maliciously. "But you would think that Sasuke-kun had better taste than _that_!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she dropped the menu. Lee and Tenten looked at her in concern, and Ino narrowed her eyes at her friend, having also overheard the conversation. Sakura stood shakily.

"You guys go ahead," she said, waving a hand at them to carry on, "I have to confirm something." She disappeared out the restaurant, not seeing Ino's concerned look.

The pink-haired young woman walked quickly towards the Hokage Tower. Tsunade-shishou would know whether those girls were just making up rumours or whether it was the truth. _But it couldn't be the truth! Sasuke-kun couldn't have married someone in my absence! Not while I still-_

She passed a familiar food stand, and a thought stuck her – Naruto would know. He'd definitely know whether Sasuke-kun was really married or not. She hastened her steps and flipped up the flaps of the stand, and immediately spotted the familiar blonde hair in front of her.

"Naruto!" she called urgently, pulling the blonde around to face her. Absently she noted that the blonde had tensed under her hand. "Is it true? Sasuke-kun got married? Tell me, Naruto!"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto answered reluctantly, her throat dry. Sakura blinked in surprise.

"Why are you in your oiroke no jutsu form, Naruto?" she asked. "But that's not important. Tell me Naruto! Did he really get married? Who's the bitch?"

Naruto flinched at the vicious tone, and quickly pushed the medic nin gently out the stand after telling something to the two boys and a girl sitting next to her.

The blonde seemed to search for words while not meeting Sakura's eyes. "I'm not in my oiroke no jutsu form, Sakura-chan," she said finally.

"I don't care about that, Naruto! Tell me – did Sasuke-kun get married?" Sakura half shouted at Naruto, who winced again. Suddenly, Sakura caught sight of the symbol on Naruto's t-shirt sleeves, and her eyes widened dramatically.

"Why… why are you wearing the Uchiha symbol? And why does the Uchiha symbol have your Uzumaki spiral in it?" Sakura took an unsteady step back, betrayal flashing in her eyes. Naruto stared down dumbly. Sakura's hand flew to her mouth.

"You're not in your oiroke no jutsu form – you're female?! That means – you're the one Sasuke-kun married?"

* * *

**Glossary-of-sorts:**

- Yakuza: Japanese mafia

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12 Denials All 'Round

**The Author Says:** Chapter 12 is finally here! Hehehe. I really didn't think I could pull off a cliffhanger. Well. Thank you so much for the reviews! Although, if you would like me to reply to your reviews (which I enjoy doing), please either submit an FFnet-signed review, coz I'm afraid of spam if I reply to emails (no offense, but I don't know you well enough to give you my email address), or please type something more than 'update soon' or 'update please'. I really appreciate reviews, but if that's all you're going to say, then please don't bother reviewing. A review is supposed to tell me what you think of the chapter, or of my writing style, or of the fic in general. I'm not trying to be arrogant, coz I love that you guys are reading my stories, but I would really like the reviews to be more than just a reminder for me to update.

Also, please do not beg me on your knees:-) As honoured as I am at the thought that you think so highly of my story, please, I'm not worthy to be bowed down to, ne :-) I accept cheques and gifts, though. Hahahaha!

U/L: 2nd February 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 12 – Denials All 'Round**

* * *

"You're not in your oiroke no jutsu form – you're female?! That means – you're the one Sasuke-kun married?" 

Naruto closed her eyes tightly, feeling extremely guilty at the sound of incredulity and betrayal in Sakura's voice. She dared not lift her eyes to face her friend.

"N-naruto? Please? Tell me you're not the one Sasuke-kun m-married?" Sakura's voice cracked.

Naruto took a deep breath and looked up, and cringed at seeing the half-hope and half-dread on Sakura's face. "I… I am married to Sasuke, Sakura-chan," she said softly, then hurriedly continued, "but it's for a mission! So that Sasuke can kill Itachi! Not because of anything else-"

SLAP!

Naruto's head bounced to the side and her cheek smarted painfully.

"You married Sasuke-kun? YOU MARRIED SASUKE-KUN?" Sakura started shouting. "How could you? You know I love him! Don't give crappy excuses about missions! How could you? You pretend to be a girl then you marry the man I love?"

Naruto tried to touch Sakura's arm. "I really am female, and I really did marry Sasuke because of a mission-"

"Oh my god! All these time you asked me out on dates! You sicko!" Sakura's eyes widened in disgusted shock, and she slapped Naruto's hand away. "You were in love with Sasuke-kun all that time, weren't you? That's why you worked so hard to get him back! How could you? You knew I loved him and yet you stole him away! You make me SICK!"

Naruto was getting desperate. "I didn't steal him away, Sakura-chan! I don't love him, it's for a mission-"

"Don't lie! And don't touch me, you vile bitch!" Sakura screamed and slapped Naruto again, face red from anger. "All this while I thought you were my friend! But you go behind my back and marry –MARRY!– the man I love! You bitch!"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto pleaded with tears in her eyes. "Please listen-"

"Don't Sakura-chan me, you bitch!" Sakura shouted. "You bakemono!"

Naruto immediately stiffened and a look of intense hurt crossed her face. Sakura almost felt guilty for calling Naruto the one thing that would hurt her like nothing else to hear coming out of a friend's mouth, but then the medic nin remembered that this _female_ had married her Sasuke-kun. She backhanded Naruto hard, and quickly ran away with tears clouding her vision.

Naruto stood trembling, looking with unseeing eyes at her zori. The street had gone unusually silent and empty, and had been so since Sakura had first started shouting. But that wasn't foremost in her mind. Sakura had called her a monster, and accused her of stealing away Sasuke. Sakura had called her a monster and accused her of going behind her back. Sakura had called her a monster.

_I am a bakemono, aren't I…_

Salty drops of water dripped intermittently onto her zori, and Naruto squeezed her eyes shut.

"Naruto-sensei?" came a soft, hesitant whisper. Naruto reluctantly opened her eyes to see Eriko standing beside her, and Ichiro and Nichiro beside Eriko. All three had worried looks.

"Naruto-sensei? Daijoubu ka?" Eriko asked again. Naruto took in a shuddering breath and plastered on a smile.

"I'm fine, guys," she said, faking a mildly cheerful tone. "How much did you hear?"

"Only the last part, when that woman called you a bakemono, Keimei-sensei," Ichiro answered, then quickly added as he saw Naruto flinch at the word 'bakemono', "but you're not a monster, sensei. That woman was wrong."

"Ichiro's right!" Eriko added, and Nichiro nodded. Naruto managed a smile, touched by their concern despite the hurt heavy in her heart. She exhaled loudly.

"Aarghh. This is the second time you've seen me like this; bet you're starting to think I'm an oversensitive, girly piece of crap," Naruto rubbed her eyes with her right hand, then pushed her bangs up and rested her hand on her forehead for a moment.

"No!" Eriko was vehement. "We still think you're awesome, Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you at the training grounds tomorrow at the usual time, okay? And I'm fine, Nichiro," she added emphatically, touched by their concern but at the same time not really liking that her students were worried about her, or even had something to be worried about concerning her, and seeing that Nichiro was about to say something. She grinned at them and gave them a two-fingered wave, then vanished without the usual smoke that accompanied a shunshin. "Ja!"

Ichiro and Nichiro narrowed their eyes identically, and Eriko stared at the spot sensei had been in a second ago.

"I hope she's alright," Eriko mused quietly, and her teammates agreed.

Xx

Xx

"Sasuke-kun!"

Annoyance flashed across the brunet's face before it settled into cold indifference. He continued kicking, punching, dodging and blocking with Kakashi, ignoring the irritatingly shrill voice. He had totally forgotten about her existence up till now.

"Sasuke-kun!"

To his immense irritation, Kakashi straightened up then slouched into his usual position, and that abominable book appeared in his hands.

"I think Sakura wants to talk to you, Sasuke," he said from behind his book.

_You think?_ snarled Sasuke mentally.

"Seems quite urgent," the jounin continued in an aloof tone, and poofed away, indicating that training was over for that day. Sasuke glared coldly at where the jounin had been standing.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura's voice was desperate. He refused to turn around, and soon a thatch of pink hair, followed by the rest of the girl, came into his view.

The girl was a mess. Her hair was rumpled and looked grimy, her face was dirty and had tear-stains, her eyes were red and puffy, and it seemed like she hadn't changed in quite a while.

"Is it true, Sasuke-kun? You married Naruto?" she asked in a hoarse, quaking voice. She flinched at his icy look.

"None of your business, Sakura." His tone matched his expression.

Undeterred, she latched onto his arm with desperation in her eyes. "Please, Sasuke-kun. Did you marry Naruto? Do you l-love Naruto?"

Sasuke glared down at his ex-teammate, who was on the verge of tears. "That dobe is only a tool towards my goal. Nothing else. Get that into your brain, Haruno. And before you ask, the answer is no – I am not interested in any of you pitiful females in Konoha," he said coldly, shook off her arm rudely and stalked off.

Sakura stared after him for a while, staring at the revised Uchiha symbol on his back. She swallowed a sob and ran after him.

"Sasuke-kun –"

Something seemed to strike Sasuke, and he turned around slowly.

"You spoke to her yesterday, didn't you?" he asked in a dangerously low voice. Sakura took a step back, feeling a little fear rise at the bit of killing intent he was letting loose.

"Sasuke-kun? What do you mean?" she asked shakily.

"You. spoke. to. the. dobe. yesterday. And you hit her." It was a statement. His black eyes radiated anger, and Sakura was taken aback. Realization hit her, and she gasped painfully.

"You care for Naruto, don't you, Sasuke-kun. You actually care for her!" she half-shrieked, pointing at him. The anger in his eyes intensified, and he glared at her. "Why? I love you, Sasuke-kun! Why did you marry her instead of me? What's so good about her? What does she have that I don't?"

Sasuke rested one hand on his Kusanagi and the other on his hip, and stared at her pointedly, in disdain. "The Kyuubi."

Sakura's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"She has the Kyuubi, and you don't. Itachi is after her, not you. That's all there is to it. End of discussion." He turned to walk away, no longer in the mood to train, and ignored Sakura's pitiful "I don't understand…"

Sakura tried to wrap her tired brain around what Sasuke just said. It didn't help that she slept only an hour or so last night, having spent most of the time sobbing into her pillow.

The brunet stopped after one step, and without turning around, said, "If I ever find out you hit the dobe again, you won't like the consequences." He walked down the street without turning back.

_He does care for Naruto… he didn't deny it… but at the same time he doesn't seem to care. It's like he's using her, like she's a mere tool to him… _Sakura thought confusedly. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, starting to feel guilty about her treatment of Naruto last night. Her head hurt too much to try and figure out what was going on, but one thing seemed clear – Sasuke-kun was married to Naruto. The love of her life was married to a person she thought was male all this time.

"Haruno-san, Hokage-sama requires you," an unfamiliar voice broke her train of thoughts. She opened her eyes and glared at the chuunin messenger, who merely shrugged and shunshin-ed off. Sakura but back a frustrated scream – of all the times for Tsunade-shishou to call for her! She blinked, then realized that Tsunade-shishou would definitely know what was going on. She would definitely get the story out of Tsunade-shishou.

The pink-haired medic quickly summoned her little store of chakra that had not replenished since she hadn't had a good rest, and shunshin-ed to the Hokage's office door, knocked, and went in before the Hokage could call her.

Tsunade looked up, one eyebrow raised in mild surprise. "You look like shit, Sakura."

Sakura gripped the edge of the large desk and stared hopefully at the Hokage. "Sasuke-kun isn't really married to Naruto, is he? Tell me he's not, Tsunade-sama, tell me Naruto's not a girl!"

The blonde leaned back in her chair and raised one hand to massage her temples. The other hand indicated for Sakura to sit down.

"Take a seat, Sakura. Now I see why Keimei was reluctant about telling you…"

Sakura was lowered herself into the chair slowly, feeling a little confused.

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto's real name is Namikaze Keimei, renamed Uzumaki Naruto by the Sandaime Hokage, who also cast a kage henge on her when she was still an infant, to protect her because of the Kyuubi within her. She herself never knew about this until the fight at the Valley of the End, when she was carried back here and I had to heal numerous wounds and the kage henge got dispelled for the first time in her life. Needless to say, we were all shocked, and Keimei was screaming, so I went through Sarutobi-sensei's duty log, and found one entry explaining a little concerning the kage henge, although her surname was not mentioned. Her name was then legally changed to Uzumaki Keimei Naruto. Keimei received a time-limit-sealed scroll from the Sandaime a few weeks ago, informing her of who her parents were. Whether she chooses to share the information she received is up to her, but the name Namikaze must never leave this room, Sakura. At least not until Keimei gives us her permission." Tsunade looked pointedly at her apprentice before continuing. "Keimei herself was uncomfortable as a female, so she stuck to her male appearance for a while until I convinced her to get used to her original body. She has been trying, and only recently has she fully dropped the henge."

Sakura looked dazedly at the Hokage. "But Sasuke-kun…"

Tsunade glared at her. "Is that boy all you have in your brain, Haruno? The Council came up with the plan to force Keimei to marry Sasuke because they want Sasuke to stay in Konoha. Keimei is the ideal bait for Sasuke, because of Itachi and Akatsuki's interest in the Kyuubi. As for Keimei, they threatened to reject her as Hokage and shut Sasuke up in prison if she were to refuse. She agreed out of the kindness of her heart. Whether she loves him or he loves her or whatever it is – it is between the two of them, who are legally married by Konoha law, I might add. Forget about that boy, Haruno. He never reciprocated your feelings in the first place. I honestly thought you should have realized that by now, and gotten over it."

Sakura flinched at Tsunade's rather harsh tone. She felt her heart crumble off bit by bit – it was official. Sasuke was married to Naruto, regardless of their feelings for each other. A sliver of hope shot up – maybe she could –

"I never took you for a home-wrecker, and I never want to have to think of you that way, Haruno," Tsunade cut in.

Sakura flushed and cowered back in her chair under the Hokage's intense look.

"While it's true Keimei thinks of this as a mission, and Sasuke thinks of this as a means to his end, do not come in between them. If they should split later on, let it be of their own volition."

Sakura nodded dumbly, and wiped at the tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes. Tsunade sighed again. "Go home, Sakura," she said in a softer tone. "Get some rest, clean yourself up. I'll give you today off, but I expect you back at the hospital tomorrow."

Sakura stood slowly and with a bow, left the Hokage's office. Tsunade's worried eyes followed her to the door. _I hope Keimei doesn't get hurt by this…_

Xx

Xx

Sasuke walked slowly back to the apartment after having decided to spend the rest of the day meditating. Sakura's words kept replaying in his mind.

_I don't care for her. I just want to make sure she's in good condition as Itachi-bait_, he argued with himself.

He had come back to an empty apartment last night – not that he cared whether or not the dobe was home. He had cooked himself dinner, ate it, then went to bed. He hated admitting it, but the house was colder, emptier without the blonde idiot around. He spent a rather restless night in his room, and couldn't find a reason for his restlessness. In the morning, just as he was leaving the bathroom, the dobe had come in, walking limply towards her room. Her eyes were red and tired, and most of all, lifeless. Sasuke found himself hating that lifeless look in her eyes. There were no tear stains on her face, but there was a large, faded red splotch on her face that would have corresponded to being slapped in the face a few times. All these observations Sasuke made out of the corner of his eye.

The dobe, on noticing him rather belatedly, had looked up with a smile and a cheerful "Ohayou Sasuke" before going into her room. Sasuke left the house and didn't think more of it until Sakura had come running to him during training earlier, and he realized that Sakura was probably the one who had hit the dobe once she found out they were married.

An unexpected and unwanted feeling of protectiveness and anger rose in him, and he had warned her off the dobe. And he did realize that he never denied having feelings for the dobe.

_It's such a stupid idea – me having feelings for the dobe. It's so ridiculous it's not worth denying._

Another stream of thought popped up in his head. _Then why are you so uptight about the issue?_

Sasuke glared into space at that thought, and resolutely pushed aside further thought on the matter. That was, until he passed by a group of three vaguely familiar children walking in the same direction.

"… she looked rather out of it today," a cultured, rather arrogant-sounding voice floated up.

"Yeah. Yesterday must have affected Naruto-sensei more than she wants to admit. I mean, anyone would be hurt, being called a bakemono, but seeing as Naruto-sensei's the jin…" a girl's voice, and it got cut off by another voice that sounded identical to the first.

"Not in public, Eriko. Remember Keimei-sensei's instructions."

The girl piped up again. "Oh yeah. Well. Naruto-sensei's stubborn – it took us so long to get her to cancel today's training and convince her to rest. I mean, she was smiling and all, but you could see in her eyes that she was upset."

"Naruto-sensei has beautiful eyes, doesn't she?"

A pause occurred, during which Sasuke found himself agreeing with the boy. He recognized the group as Naruto's genin.

"You've got a crush on Naruto-sensei, haven't you, Nichiro?" the girl crowed, grinning at one of the Hyuuga twins. The boy in question scowled delicately at the girl, although Sasuke could see he had the faintest of pink on his cheeks. The boy's twin raised an eyebrow, and the girl cackled.

"Nichiro's got a crush on Naruto-sensei! Nichiro's got a crush on Naruto-sensei!" she sing-songed, grinning wickedly at the boy.

Sasuke felt a surge of annoyance and assertiveness rise, directed at the boy. The nerve of that boy, having a crush on someone else's wife! And a woman six years older than himself, too.

_Why do I care?_

Sasuke growled to himself and quickly walked away from the group of genin. He jumped up to the rooftops and made his way towards the apartment, and let himself in. He could smell instant ramen – the dobe was obviously having lunch in the kitchen. He made his way there unhurriedly, and headed to the fridge to get himself a glass of cold water.

The blonde was seated at the table, facing away from the entrance and the fridge. She jumped slightly when she heard the fridge door open, and turned around. Sasuke caught a glimpse of her tired face and lifeless eyes before she smiled widely at him.

"Okaeri, Sasuke!"

"Hn." It was more than Sasuke had ever acknowledged before this, and Naruto blinked in surprise, obviously expecting silence. Sasuke pulled out some of his leftovers and went to heat them up. Once the microwave dinged, he removed his food and sat across from her and started eating quietly, watching her from under his eyelashes.

Naruto was eating her fifth cup of ramen, and the four empty ones were scattered around her on the table. Her eyes were rather unfocused, and the smile had fallen off her face. Overall, she looked rather sad – an expression Sasuke found himself disliking on Naruto's face. He put down his chopsticks to pick up his glass of water.

The movement caught Naruto's eyes, and instantly a more neutral, cheerful look appeared on her face. Sasuke then understood what her students had been talking about – you wouldn't have known that Naruto was hurt if you didn't look carefully past the smile on her face into her eyes.

_She wears a mask,_ he realized. _She covers up any hurt with an idiotic smile, and people don't bother to look past the smile._ He wondered how many of the smiles he had seen on her face were cover-ups for hurting feelings. With a jolt to his heart, he wondered how many times he had been the cause of those fake smiles. _Not that I care_, he argued vehemently with himself. _I severed those bonds; I don't care_.

"Didja know Sakura-chan's back from her mission?" Naruto suddenly said in a cheerful voice. Sasuke put down his glass and took up his chopsticks again, and pretended not to pay attention to her. "We should meet up sometime soon, and call Kakashi-sensei along too, ne? Team Seven after six years." The blonde smiled.

"I saw Sakura-chan yesterday. You were the first thing she asked about," she went on, and Sasuke could detect slight bitterness in her tone, but only because he was looking for it. "Has she gone looking for you? She still likes you, you know."

Sasuke picked at a vegetable with his chopsticks. "I don't like her. And I told her so earlier."

Naruto's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "You talk!" Sasuke shot her a glare. Although Naruto's surprise was understandable – he had never replied to her when she tried to chat at home. The blonde set down her now-empty cup of ramen, and narrowed an eye at the brunet opposite her.

"I hope you were nice to her, Sasuke – she's liked you all these years. I hope you didn't hurt her feelings."

"Why are you being so nice to her? She obviously hurt yours," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto looked startled and a little apprehensive for an instant before she blustered, "Sakura-chan's our teammate and she's my friend, so you'd better be nice to her!"

Sasuke's features rearranged themselves into indifference. "She's not my friend."

Naruto scowled at him. "That's because you won't let anyone be your friend! We want to be your friends, Sasuke! I want to be your friend again! But you won't let us!"

"These kinds of bonds only hold us back. I've told you that before – friendships are useless to me, and you are a mere tool."

"We care about you, Sasuke," Naruto said softly. "Sakura-chan and Kaka-sensei and I. What will you come home to after you've killed Itachi?"

Sasuke flared up a little. "Don't mention that man's name in my house."

Naruto stuck out her tongue childishly. "It's my house too!"

Sasuke stood, his appetite lost. "I am the man of the house; you will do as I say."

Naruto stood as well. "Suddenly you're my husband and you can order me around? Harh! Maybe if you started treating me like a wife I'd think of you as the man of the house! But even then, nobody orders Uzumaki Naruto around." She turned on her heel and marched out of the kitchen, only to pop back with a red face. "Forget about me asking you to treat me like a wife, okay? I'm no weak girl that needs a husband to protect her!"

She retreated quickly, leaving Sasuke to stare after her. His eyes fell on her ramen cups, and he frowned in annoyance at her messy habits. He irritably deposited her trash into the garbage bin and washed up his dishes. He wiped his hands on the dishcloth, and walked out of the kitchen, intending to head to his room, but in the living room, he noticed Naruto sprawled out inelegantly on her stomach on the couch facing the kitchen entrance.

Unconsciously, he stopped in his tracks, then slowly walked a little closer to be able to observe her better. Her face looked tired, like she hadn't slept the whole night. Now that she was sleeping, the fatigue that she was hiding earlier was showing through. Her shoulder-length spiky-ish blonde hair curled over her neck and partly covered her face, especially her eyes, since she was resting on one cheek. The red mark on her face he had seen in the morning had faded, and he could now see only hints of it, and that was probably because he knew where to look. A slight bit of drool was escaping her partially open mouth, and Sasuke twitched in annoyance at the thought of drool on the couch. One hand was squeezed between the back of the couch and her body, and the other was dangling towards the floor, together with its corresponding leg. She looked a little uncomfortable with her Konoha vest still on – she must have been too tired to take it off before she dozed off.

Sasuke crouched down, and a hand tentatively made its way to her face. Just as he was about to smooth back her hair, she scrunched up her face, rearranging her features into an expression of hurt. The hurt look vanished a second later, and Sasuke guessed that she must have been dreaming about whatever Sakura had said to her.

She called her a monster, according to her genin. Sasuke knew that must have hurt a lot.

He suddenly realized he had a hand near her face, and wondered when had the appendage moved there. His hand hovered over her face for a while before he made up his mind, and gently brushed back the hair from her eyes, only to have it fall back when he removed his hand. He pulled his hand back, feeling oddly warm when he saw her lips curl up in a faint smile when he had smoothed back her hair.

Sasuke stood up, gave her a last look and left for his room.

Xx

Xx

He was having trouble meditating. He had been trying to do so for the past few hours, but his thoughts kept flying back to the dobe.

Why did he start feeling protective of her, assertive over her, when Sakura and that little Hyuuga snot had been talking about her? He didn't care; he didn't need friends, much less a wife. But why did he start feeling warm when the dobe responded to his touch with a smile?

_Idiot. She probably didn't even know it was you, so what makes you think she responded to you?_ he berated himself.

These bonds would only slow him down.

_But the dobe managed to gain strength because of those bonds_, a traitorous subconscious voice spoke up.

Sasuke scowled to himself. The dobe had indeed gotten stronger – almost to his level, if the spar two weeks ago was anything to go by. He knew she wasn't going all out with him yet, just as he hadn't gone all out with her, but he could tell she wasn't as weak as she had been six years ago. It was galling.

He found himself wondering if he could have risen to this level if he had stayed in Konoha instead of going to Orochimaru. No, he decided. He had made the right choice – he was decidedly stronger, and no one in Konoha could have measured up to Orochimaru when the snake-man was at his peak.

A thought stuck him – was he the reason why Naruto was so strong? After all, the dobe kept going on about how one gets strong if they fight to protect their precious person. His eyes widened a fraction before he scowled darkly. _Her strength probably came from the Kyuubi. She would be weak without it._

Even as he thought that, he knew it wasn't true, because he couldn't detect the Kyuubi's chakra at all when they sparred. His features darkened again, and he narrowed his eyes. Just how did the dobe get so strong? Bonds and all that precious people philosophy was pure crap. He needed to get stronger; he must be more powerful than that man. That way that man wouldn't stand a chance when they met ag-

KNOCK KNOCK.

The harsh sound reverberated through the still apartment. Sasuke scowled at the noisy interruption and didn't move from where he was seated on the floor in the middle of his room, waiting for the dobe to answer the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Sasuke scowled as whoever it was kept a steady rhythm. What was the dobe doing? He hadn't heard her move, much less leave the apartment. Gritting his teeth in irritation, he stood up and strode to the front door, shot the sleeping figure on the couch an annoyed glare and threw the door open.

His _replacement_ stood there, hand upraised and ready to continue knocking. Unfazed by Sasuke's cold look, the man just lowered his hand and smiled politely – an obviously fake smile.

"Why hello, Sasuke-kun. Is Naruto-kun in?" he asked disarmingly.

Sasuke just glared at him, to which the man smiled back, and slipped past Sasuke into the apartment. Sasuke glared heatedly at the intruder, and was about to reprimand him when he noticed the man went to crouch on one knee in front of the dobe.

A concerned look had replaced the fake smile, and the man smoothed back her hair gently, almost lovingly. Sasuke felt anger and another emotion (_jealousy?_) rise at seeing that man touch the dobe like how he had a few hours ago. He was childishly pleased to note that the dobe didn't respond to the man.

"Naruto-kun," the man called softly, and Naruto twitched in her sleep.

"Naruto-kun," he called again. Naruto frowned and sluggishly brought her hands up to her face to rub her eyes. Sasuke closed the door and stalked to the opposite couch, and placed himself on it so that he was able to observe both the dobe's and the black-haired man's faces.

A drowsy smile curled Naruto's lips as she blinked at the man in front of her. "Sasu-ke…?"

Sasuke felt a little finger of warmth uncurl in his heart, and he hid an arrogant smirk at the displeased look that shot across the other man's features.

Naruto yawned and stretched as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "Sasuke?" she yawned again. "What do you want?"

"Naruto-kun," the man began in a pleasant voice, and Sasuke thought he sounded it sounded a little strained. Naruto blinked in surprise, and rubbed her eyes again.

"Eh? Sai! What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling down her vest and t-shirt that had ridden up a little when she had stretched. The other man gave her a smile, and continued crouching on the floor. He looked up at her slumped in the couch.

"I wanted to see if you are free for dinner, Naruto-kun, seeing as Hag is back."

Naruto flinched noticeably at Sakura's nickname. Both the men saw it, and Sai asked in a faintly concerned tone, "Are you alright, Naruto-kun? Have your genin been giving you trouble?"

The blonde forced a weak chuckle. "My brats are cool. I'm just exhausted, that's all. I couldn't sleep much last night."

Sai nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Perhaps you can try drinking a glass of warm milk before you sleep? I read that it would help."

Naruto gave him a tired, fond smile. Sasuke frowned minutely.

"It's not that, Sai. I can't go out tonight, anyways, I'm still tired. But you should go find Sakura-chan. I think she needs some company right now."

Sai cocked an eyebrow. "You have seen Hag since she came back?"

The blonde's lips tightened for a moment. "Yeah, and we got into an argument because of certain… events. So she's not very happy with me now, Sai. Maybe you could go cheer her up?"

"And who will cheer you up?" the man in his innocent way. Naruto closed her eyes, leaned her head back and sighed. Opening her eyes, she caught sight of Sasuke, who she could make out in the dimming light in the apartment. He had his arms crossed and seemed to be staring at the two of them, and knowing Sasuke as well as she did, she could tell he was displeased about something. She sighed again, wondering what she had done to piss him off this time.

"I'll be fine, Sai. Sakura-chan needs someone right now, alright?" she finally said. Sai considered this for a while, then rose to his feet. Naruto stood slowly as well.

"I will let you rest, dickless," Sai said with a fake smile, and Naruto punched him weakly in the arm.

"Get going, baka."

She accompanied him to the door, and waited as he turned around to face her before going off.

"I enjoyed having dinner with you two weeks ago, Naruto-kun. Perhaps we can go for dinner again sometime soon?" he asked. Naruto nodded tiredly, not noticing Sasuke bristle on the couch behind her.

"Sure thing, Sai. Maybe in a few days Sakura-chan won't be so pissed at me, then we can get Kakashi-sensei and meet up for dinner or something."

Naruto closed the door after the brunet left, and leaned her forehead tiredly against the cool wood of the door. She hated having Sakura-chan mad at her, but she also knew better than to go talk to the medic nin when she was this upset with her. She heaved a sigh, then turned around and shuffled towards her room, just sparing a glance toward Sasuke, who was staring at her with a blank face. She blinked at that, but her brain was too tired to even start thinking about the man. Thinking about him always took too much energy.

Naruto closed her bedroom door behind her, threw off her vest and clothes, unwrapped her chest bindings, got into her usual loose t-shirt and boxers (left over from her days as a male; she still found them more comfortable than panties) and crawled into her cool bed. She grabbed her black and white sleeping cap and pulled it over her blonde spikes, and was asleep in a minute.

* * *

**Glossary-of-sorts**

- bakemono: monster

-daijoubu: okay, alright, safe. So, daijoubu ka means 'are you alright'

**The Author has More to Say:** I would like to state one thing very clearly here: I DO NOT hate Sakura. In fact, Shippuden-Sakura is one of my fave characters, coz she kicks ass. I used Sakura here because of her position in terms of her relationships to both Sasuke and Naruto. I needed someone who was in love with Sasuke (I'm not too sure canon!Sakura still has the hots for Sasuke, but for the purpose of this fic, Sakura still loves Sasuke), but at the same time was important enough to Naruto so that Naruto would be affected by the person's reaction to the marriage news. Am I making sense? Hope so. I tend to ramble :-P So, I repeat, I do not hate Sakura, and this isn't really Sakura-bashing. It's just me manipulating a character for my evil purposes XD and in case some of you are worried, I'll just mention this: I think Sakura's a lot more mature than to keep grudges against Naruto, eh? ;-)

Reviews n constructive criticism much appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13 Shopping with the Girls

**The Author Says:** Bring out the oranges and peanuts! It's Chinese New Year! Keong Hee Huat Chai! That's how we say it in my dialect. Some of you may have heard of the more popular version: Gong Xi Fa Chai. Well, whatever the dialect, I want to wish all my readers a Happy Chinese New Year! Sorry, no angpow from me, I'm not married XD

Anyways, it's Chinese New Year in two days' time, and I won't be around for about a week, meaning I won't have proper Internet access, which is why I'm updating now. Isn't it nice of me? Hahaha :-D So, here's this week's update, and I won't be updating till next week. Have a prosperous Year of the Rat :-)

-Drools over gifts- There are people out there who actually read my author's notes!! Thank you so very much! It's so good to know I don't write in vain ;-) Thank you all for the lovely reviews! You guys are really kind!

U/L: 5th February 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 13 – Shopping with the Girls**

* * *

"Last lap!" Naruto called cheerfully as she ran beside her genin. Eriko glared at her, and the Hyuuga twins shot her disgruntled looks. 

They had been running around Konoha to wind down after a hard day's training. About an hour after lunch, the brunet – Naruto-sensei's relative – had appeared with the Copy Nin Hatake Kakashi during their training at their usual training grounds. Eriko hadn't been able to hear what had been said, since the genin were practicing water-walking for the first time, and had been falling into the little stream at the edge of the training area quite a few times. Naruto-sensei had also stationed a kage bunshin at the water's edge when she noticed Eriko trying to sneak nearer to listen.

Hatake Kakashi was slouching languidly, the handsome brunet had a faint scowl on his otherwise expressionless face, and Naruto-sensei looked a little livid, and was arguing with her relative. It was pretty much a one-sided argument, from what Eriko could see. The handsome guy (she had yet to ask Naruto-sensei his name) only spoke a few words once in a while, while Naruto-sensei was going on and on with her hands gesturing. Suddenly, Naruto-sensei shouted something and jumped back, puling out a kunai. The man jumped back in the same instant and pulled out his chokuto.

The spar had been short and furious. Naruto-sensei hadn't brought out her katana, but seemed to be holding her own pretty well. A shout of encouragement from Eriko unfortunately caused her to look toward the three genin, and the handsome man quickly took advantage of the opening, and knocked the kunai out of Naruto-sensei's hand. He had then sheathed his chokuto, and engaged their blonde sensei in a taijutsu fight. Sensei was fast, but the other man was just as fast, if not faster, and seemed able to predict her movements easily. After a few minutes, he had swept a leg under hers, causing her to lose balance. He twisted her arms behind her back and forced her to the ground as she tried to regain her balance, and kept her there with a knee on her back.

Naruto-sensei was red in the face with anger, and her kage bunshin guarding Eriko, Ichiro and Nichiro was in a rage, hopping angrily on the spot. It was quite comical, actually.

The man leaned over and said something to Naruto-sensei that made her really mad. She struggled but it was ineffective against the man's hold. The man had a satisfied and triumphant smirk on his face. Naruto-sensei snapped something at him that widened the smirk a fraction, and he leapt off her to land a safe distance away. Naruto-sensei jumped to her feet with a red face, and pointed accusingly at the Copy Nin, who had his nose buried in a blue book and seemed to ignore her. After a few minutes of fuming on Naruto-sensei's side (something about invading their training area and stupid bastards looking for fights and lazy sensei), the silver-haired jounin slipped the book into his weapons pouch, gave Naruto-sensei a happy crescent-eye, collected the handsome brunet, who had been standing to one side with his arms crossed, staring at them argue (or rather, Naruto-sensei argue), and left.

Naruto-sensei came stomping towards the water and her kage bunshin dispelled. Eriko had been a little intimidated by the anger emanating from Naruto-sensei. Their sensei had taken a few deep breaths, then announced that training was over for that day, and they had to run three laps around Konoha to cool off.

"I wonder which of us needs to cool off more," Ichiro had muttered sarcastically under his breath as they started running, and Eriko agreed.

They were now running their last lap (_arigato, Kami-sama!_ Eriko thought fervently while puffing tiredly). Their route led them past the Hyuuga compound, so they slowed down to a jog, and left the Hyuuga twins there. Naruto-sensei then accompanied Eriko back to her home, listening to Eriko chatter about some handsome guys she had seen the day before.

They made their way towards the market area, where Naruto-sensei made some purchases and muttered under her breath about parasitic bastards, and Eriko glared at anyone who dared look at Naruto-sensei the wrong way. Naruto-sensei caught her at it, smiled gently at her (Eriko liked seeing Naruto-sensei smile like that, it made her look even more pretty than she already was), and told her to ignore those people. Eriko made an affirmative noise and continued glaring at those ill-mannered people behind Naruto-sensei's back.

"Nothing like a full day of training, eh, Eriko?" Naruto said, adjusting her hold on her bag of groceries. She beamed at the honey-haired genin by her side. Eriko shot her a mild glare, and Naruto chuckled.

"It's tiring, but you get this good feeling after you take a bath and relax, and it's really satisfying to know you're making progress, like you three have been," Naruto said. Eriko beamed at her sensei.

"We've been making progress? Really, sensei?" she asked excitedly.

Naruto nodded. "Yup. I didn't learn water-walking until during my first chuunin exams, and it took me quite a bit of practice to get it right. You guys are doing well for beginners."

Eriko grinned proudly, and skipped a few steps forward towards a dark brown gate lodged in a red brick wall. She rung the doorbell and skipped back to the gate, where Naruto was standing.

"This is where I live," she informed Naruto, who nodded, and noted the address. It was a rather affluent neighbourhood, Naruto noted. The houses here were large, and quite a few were built Western-style, rather than the traditional Japanese style that the older clans, like the Hyuuga, favoured.

A minute later, the gate was opened by a tall, honey-haired man who looked a little like Eriko. Eriko shrieked and launched herself at the man, who laughed and scooped her up to give her a big hug. Naruto smiled fondly at the scene.

"Niichan! You're back! When did you get back? Was the trip successful? Did you bring anything back for me?" Eriko babbled, pinching her older brother's cheeks. The man laughed again and batted her hands away.

"This morning, koneko-bo. Yes, the trip was successful, and the Sehotomo have agreed to sell our products in their shop. And yes, I did bring you something," the man said indulgently. Eriko squealed happily and hugged her brother tightly, who hugged back. Naruto felt a little awkward, and cleared her throat to take leave of her student. The man looked up in surprise.

"Oh, sumimasen! I didn't realize you were there," he said, and shifted Eriko to his side, and supported her against his hip with one hand, the other extended toward Naruto. Naruto shook his hand and offered him a smile.

"Naruto-sensei's my jounin sensei!" Eriko informed helpfully, and her brother nodded. His eyes narrowed in recognition of her name, but then he smiled at her without any hint of repulsion.

"I see. I'm Tanake Teruo, Eriko's oniisan. Pleased to meet you, Naruto-san."

"Eh? I didn't know Eriko had an older brother. Pleased to meet you too, Teruo-san," grinned Naruto, one hand holding her grocery bag and the other behind her head in a sheepish gesture.

"Tanake Teruo, twenty years old, single and available," Eriko rattled off with a mischievous grin, "Vital stats, twen-ooff!"

Teruo plastered his hand over his sister's mouth with an embarrassed grin, and Naruto laughed a little. "Don't worry, Teruo-san. Nothing to be embarrassed about, I'm sure. Well, it's dinner time, and I'll be going. Nice meeting you, Teruo-san, and I'll see you tomorrow, Eriko."

Naruto walked off, raising a hand to acknowledge Eriko's loud "See you, sensei!" and missing Teruo's lingering gaze on her back. She walked home at a comfortably slow pace. The spar earlier had been good, but it was embarrassing to lose in front of her genin, and she always hated losing to that bastard. He had seemed to be in an extra pissy mood when he and Kakashi-sensei appeared at Team Seven's training ground with some lame excuse about someone else occupying their usual place, and then with a few well-placed insults, had managed to get Naruto to spar with him and lose to him. She didn't need to look in order to know that he probably had a smirk on his face when he had her on the ground eating dirt.

While she was pissed about his infuriating attitude and about losing, she was glad to see that he had seemed to loosen up a little. Their fight that afternoon was reminiscent of their fights six years ago while training. Naruto smiled wistfully.

Her thoughts moved toward her students. They were improving at a normal, good pace. She was glad for that, because she intended to get them into the upcoming chuunin exams. She knew Kiba and Temari were planning to nominate their teams as well, and she was eager to see if her team could pound the other teams into the dirt.

Of all her students, Eriko was the one who still needed to improve most. She wasn't as far behind the Hyuuga twins as Sakura had been when they were genin, but she could certainly do with a bit more practice. And it seemed she came from a fairly well-to-do family. Perhaps that was why she wasn't as enthusiastic about the ninja life as the other genin were. Naruto wondered why she had been enrolled in the Academy, and why her brother had not been enrolled. The man – Teruo – was obviously not a shinobi, even if he looked muscled. He was fairly good-looking, and had his honey hair swept back from his face with a few strands hanging in front of his eyes. He was dressed in normal civilian wear – a shirt and slacks, with haori-like jacket over his shoulders. Naruto could tell they were of good make.

It was heart-warming to see Eriko greet her brother with such enthusiasm and love, and have that enthusiasm and love returned. Naruto both loved and felt pained when she saw displays of affection between family members like that. Sometimes she could successfully ignore the pain; at other times she went home to her lonely apartment with a heavy heart, scolding herself for not getting used to eighteen years of coming home to an empty apartment.

But now she wasn't alone anymore. Not really, at least. She liked having someone at home, even if that someone was a silent block of ice with a pole up its rear area. It made the whole place less gloomy, just to know that there was another living, breathing human in the same house.

Naruto entered her apartment with a loud and happy "Tadaima!", not getting nor expecting a response, but happy to see a blank-faced Sasuke on the couch, ignoring her.

Xx

Xx

Eriko panted loudly, bent over with her hands resting heavily on her knees. Nichiro was breathing loudly beside her as well, sitting gracefully on the grass. Naruto-sensei was about finished sparring with Ichiro.

Ichiro's hands shot forward to try to close the tenketsu on the blonde jounin's upper arms, but Naruto took advantage of the opening, and her hand closed in around the boy's neck while she arched outward out of range of Ichiro's hands. Ichiro dropped his hands to the side limply, and Naruto let go of his neck with a grin.

"Always take your opponent's reach into consideration, ne?" she advised as she flopped onto the grass beside her students. The clouds were stained pink and gold and orange from the evening sun, and Naruto squinted at one cloud that was shaped like a bloated Uchiha fan.

Eriko sat down beside her and tugged at the hem of her vest.

"Hmmm?" the blonde asked lazily. Shikamaru was right – cloud watching was relaxing.

"My chichi-ue and haha-ue invite you all to dinner tomorrow night," the girl announced.

"That's nice," Naruto mumbled absently, then blinked. Dinner? She sat up and her hand almost knocked Eriko in the face. The Hyuuga twins were looking at her expectantly.

"Err… are you sure your parents want to meet us?" Naruto asked hesitantly, and winced inwardly. _Are you sure your parents want to meet _me?

Eriko, oblivious to Naruto's mental question, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! They want to meet my sensei and team! So you'll all be coming right? Tomorrow night at seven!"

"I err… don't have anything to wear," Naruto said, trying to find a decent excuse to avoid dinner. Much as she appreciated free food, she preferred having her dinners in a peaceful environment where people didn't stare at her with _those_ eyes.

"What? Oh, nothing formal! Just a simple dress or yukata will do," Eriko answered.

Naruto grabbed the chance. "My yukata are really unsuitable for dinners, and I don't have a dress… so it looks like I'll have to pass-"

The blonde was smiling inside at the perfect excuse not to go for the dinner, but dread started to rise when Eriko's jaw hung loose.

"You don't have a dress?" Eriko asked incredulously. Even the twins looked at little disbelieving. Naruto winced. "Not even one?"

The blonde jounin shook her head, and her hairs stood on end when Eriko's eyes gleamed.

"Training's cancelled tomorrow, sensei!" she announced gleefully. Naruto's eyes widened in alarm.

"Wha-what! Hey! You can't cancel training without my permiss-"

"We're going shopping!"

Xx

Xx

Naruto grumbled under her breath as Eriko dragged her toward the dress shops in Konoha's shopping district. The Hyuuga twins had escaped as soon as they could, saying that they already had clothes for the dinner, and accepted their teammate's invitation gracefully. Naruto had smiled at their pleasant attitude toward their formerly-looked-down-upon teammate, then glared at them for not helping her get out of the dinner.

And now Eriko was dragging her into a predominantly pink shop. Naruto frowned and scowled, but Eriko happily disregarded her, and sat her down on a chair.

"Wait here, sensei, while I go choose a few dresses for you," the girl said gleefully, ignoring Naruto's protests of "I don't do dresses! I'm a t-shirt and pants kinda girl!". Eriko turned around to start dress-hunting, and almost bumped into a lady who just entered the shop.

"Ah! Sumimasen!" she apologized. The lady looked down at her.

"No harm done," she smiled. Naruto looked up at the voice.

"Ino?" she asked. Ino turned to look at Naruto in surprise.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, then rushed toward her and stared at the blonde. "So it's true! You're really a girl!"

Naruto deflated. "Yeah."

"And you and Sasuke-kun really-!"

Her shoulders sagged even more. "Yeah." Naruto looked up wearily. "Is Sakura-chan still mad at me?"

Ino gave her a sympathetic look and sat down beside her. "Yeah, she is. But don't worry, she'll come to her senses soon enough." Ino shot her an encouraging smile. Naruto plastered on a carefully-practiced smile, even though she didn't feel like smiling. It still ate at her that Sakura-chan was still angry with her.

"Well!" Ino said, changing the topic. "What are you doing in this boutique, of all places? I'd have pegged you as a tomboy, rather than a dress-and-heels kinda gal."

Naruto groaned. "My student dragged me in here, to get a suitable dress to wear to dinner with her family."

Ino clapped her hands excitedly and grinned. Naruto cowered at the gleam in her eye.

"Sugoi! Let me help! I love dressing people!" she said happily, her eye roaming over Naruto, taking in her features.

Eriko came back and carefully handed two dresses to Naruto. "Here, sensei, try these on first."

"Mm. Yup, that blue one brings out her eyes, and the white one should complement her skin tone. You have good taste, girl," Ino praised, as she looked over the dresses. Eriko looked up and blushed a little.

"Thank you, -"

"Oh, my name is Yamanaka Ino, I'm Naruto's friend." Ino smiled at the girl, who smiled back. "Now, go try these on, Naruto. I can't wait to see you in them!"

Xx

Xx

Naruto nearly cried in frustration. Ino and Eriko had become good friends, and had been dragging her from shop to shop to find a good dress. They didn't allow her to get the orange dress earlier – one of the few dresses she actually liked. They didn't allow her to get the simple blue dress either, although they had almost agreed. But apparently it was a rule not to just get the first suitable item you find, but you had to search every shop till you were certain there wasn't any other item that compared to it.

"I want to go home! I can wear the skirt and blouse Gaara gave me! It looks okay! I promise!" Naruto begged with tears in her eyes. Ino and Eriko turned to look at her in surprise.

"Gaara gave you clothes? What, did he take you on a date?" Ino teased, then squealed as Naruto blushed a little and avoided her eyes. She dropped onto the sofa beside Naruto, who covered her face with her hands.

"Do tell! Who'd have thought, Gaara took you on a date!"

"Who's Gaara?" Eriko asked in confusion as she sat on her sensei's other side.

"My best friend," Naruto answered quickly, with a meaningful look toward Ino, who nodded imperceptibly. Eriko's eyes gleamed.

"Tell us, sensei! What was it like? Was it your first date? Did he kiss you?" she asked excitedly. Naruto groaned painfully.

"Will you let me buy the first dress I like in this shop if I answer you?" she asked tiredly.

Ino and Eriko looked at each other, narrowed their eyes, then smiled and nodded. "Deal!" they said.

"Fine. It was about a month and a half ago, when I went back to Suna to collect my katana. He gave me a bracelet for my birthday, and a desert rose, and took me for dinner in a really nice restaurant. Then we watched the stars from the highest roof in Suna, and then we went back," Naruto said wearily. Ino squealed.

"Who would have thought Gaara was so sweet!" she clasped her hands together excitedly. "Did he kiss you?"

Naruto shook her head, and before thinking, blurted out, "No, I kissed him."

This time both Ino and Eriko squealed, loudly. Naruto winced and covered her ears. "Not on the lips! On his tattoo on his forehead! He's my best friend, okay!" she said hurriedly in a defensive tone.

"So romantic, Naruto-sensei!" Eriko squealed. Naruto buried her head in her palms.

"Please don't go telling people, okay? I don't want to give them the wrong idea," she pleaded. "May I _please_ go choose a dress and go home now?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at the other blonde. "I've a feeling there's something you're leaving out," she said in a suspicious tone. Eriko immediately looked interested.

"He's my best friend, okay? Now – dress!" she said, and quickly scrambled to her feet and disappeared among the racks of clothes.

Xx

Xx

Naruto mumbled under her breath as she slipped on the dress and did the clasps at the side. She had had to go through five dresses before her tormentors, oh sorry, she meant fashion consultants, settled on the second dress.

Finished with the clasps, she adjusted the silky material, then quickly ran a comb through her hair, and twisted it into a bun and secured it with a carved hair-stick Ino had bought her earlier. It had little silver beads on silver string dangling from the top, and tinkled lightly when she moved. Not exactly practical for a ninja, but Ino had shot her an exasperated look, then proceeded to teach her how to use the frivolous thing.

She had balked at getting new shoes, and told them that she already had a pair of black high-heeled shoes that Tsunade-obaachan had given her two years ago. They weren't too happy, but she had dragged them away from the shoe store before they got sucked into the scary place. Naruto pulled out the box containing the shoes from her cupboard, pulled off the cover of the box and sighed at the shoes. They were strappy things, and were a bother to put on and take off. She grimaced, but sat on her bed and put them on anyway, cursing under her breath the whole time.

Done with the shoes, she looked at her hands. The gloves she usually wore definitely did not go well with the dress, and she felt Ino and Eriko wouldn't be pleased to know she had worn them to dinner. She sighed and decided to leave the gloves on her desk where they currently were. Naruto bit her lip as she stared at the wedding ring on the finger of her left hand. Should she take it off? Leave it on? Why was she even wearing it in the first place? Sasuke had certainly taken his off as soon as he could. She felt a faint pang of pain knowing that Sasuke obviously didn't want to be attached to her in anyway.

Naruto heaved a sigh and decided to take the ring off, not wanting to have to answer questions from a curious and gossipy Eriko, especially since her students had seen how she and Sasuke interacted. She put it under her pillow for safe-keeping, and went out of her room. As she was closing the door, the shoji door leading to the living room slid open, and Sasuke stepped into the corridor. He looked up, and his eyes widened a fraction when he saw Naruto.

He had never imagined she could look this… pretty. Just like how he had been surprised during their wedding ceremony. He felt his heart skip a beat as he observed her while she was closing her room door. In an instant, his eyes took in the casual-elegant way her hair was done up with the silver hair-stick, and how nicely the dress fit her. It was white with graceful blue floral patterns, and the blue reminded him of her eyes. The dress was simple in design, with a high collar and elbow-length fitting sleeves, and came down to her knees.

She turned to face him, and he noticed her blush a little when she caught him observing her. The blush suited her face, he thought absently. Her lips had a hint of red – she must have used something there. The collar opened into a slit that came a little ways down her chest, and he was both satisfied and disappointed to note that it stopped before the swell of her breasts. Satisfied because others wouldn't be seeing her chest, disappointed because he couldn't see anything, either.

_Wait. What?!!_

He fought down a furious blush. He definitely did not want to see anything of the dobe's! Seeing her face everyday was torture enough! And what did he care if she wanted to show herself to others?

The dress hugged her curves well without being tight. The dobe actually had nice curves, and a nice rack and deck, though he noticed she was rather on the skinny side. And the black heels suited her, too.

Gah. He was turning into a pervert.

Then he noticed a colourful bracelet on one hand. And no wedding ring. Disappointment surged in his chest when he made that observation, and he became angry with himself. Why should he care whether the dobe wore her ring or not? He himself didn't bother with the useless thing, and he certainly couldn't expect her to keep the thing on.

"Ah, Sasuke," Naruto said hesitantly. "Ittekimasu."

She walked towards him and was about to slip past him through the door.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked in a cold tone.

The dobe turned and scowled at him with her hands on her hips. "What's your problem, teme?"

"I asked you a question."

"None of your business, but I'm going to dinner with my student's family, okay? Or do I need your permission for that, oh husband of mine?" she sneered. Sasuke shot her a cold glare.

"I pity the family. Be sure not to let them know of our… situation, seeing as how you would definitely embarrass yourself, and it would reflect on me," he sneered back.

Naruto glared angrily at him, pushing the hurt away. "Of course, _husband_. Wouldn't want to embarrass you, seeing as how I'm the monster of the village and just a tool to you, now would I?"

Her skirts flared around her gracefully as she turned around and stomped away hard enough to leave little heel marks on the polished wood of the corridor and living room. Sasuke closed his eyes and pushed down the conflicting thoughts in his head, then went to his room to lie down.

_I don't care about her.

* * *

_

**Glossary-of-sorts**

- koneko-bo: koneko is kitten, and bobo is baby, so koneko-bo is a pet name Teruo has for Eriko: baby kitten. Sounds weird? So sue me.

- chichi-ue and haha-ue: chichi-ue is father, haha-ue is mother

- yukata: light cotton kimono worn in the summer or used as a bathrobe

- ittekimasu: I'm off; see you later

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14 Dinners

**The Author Says:** Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! My jaw dropped, literally, when I saw that there were more than 300 reviews altogether. Never in my dreams did I think the number would pass 200! You guys are great! Since I have so many reviews (especially when added to those of my other fic), I won't be replying to every single review, just those with questions or comments I can't resist answering. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate your review if I don't reply it, because I do!

On a more serious note. This lazy ass has gotten herself a temp job. I know, I know: what in the world were you thinking, TDL?? Sigh. If only I could live off reviews. Well. This job means that my writing time would be considerably lessened, and would in turn mean that updates might come slower than usual. Sorry, can't be helped. I haven't had the time to troll the hospital's ICU wards to look for a rich, dying husband who'd will me his fortune when he kicks the bucket, so I unfortunately have to work for my money. Sigh.

U/L: 14th February 2008. That's right, Happy Valentine's Day! Much love to all my readers and reviewers :-)

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 14 – Dinners**

* * *

_He makes me want to punch him in his stupid arrogant face, that teme!_ Naruto fumed as she stomped towards the Tanake residence. _Arrggh!_

"Naruto-sensei? You look b-beautiful tonight."

Nichiro's voice jarred Naruto out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see that she had already arrived at her destination, and the Hyuuga twins were waiting for her, as agreed yesterday.

Naruto shook her head a little and forced herself to forget Sasuke and his irritating, infuriating, arrogant…

_Forget him._

"Yo, Nichiro, Ichiro. Didn't wait long, did you?" she greeted with a grin, and continued at their nods, "You guys are looking good!"

The twins were clad in similar shirts and slacks, and had blazers on. Ichiro had on a dark blue shirt, while Nichiro's shirt was of a dark grey. Naruto had actually expected them to come in something more traditional, seeing as their clan were so traditional, and voiced her opinion.

"Iie, Keimei-sensei. Our okaasan allowed us to dress this way, seeing as Eriko informed us that you would be wearing a dress instead of a yukata, and her family is more westernized than ours," Ichiro answered. Beside him, Nichiro blushed a little.

"You look b-beautiful, N-naruto-sensei," he stuttered.

Naruto looked at him in amusement. "You sound like Hinata-chan six years ago, Nichiro. Heh. Thanks for the compliment, but I know I'm not beautiful," she said, smiling at him. "In fact," she continued, tugging on her dress self-consciously, "I feel kinda naked in just this dress. I have a few weapons on me, but I'm just not used to having only one layer between me and the outside, you know?"

Ichiro blushed, and Nichiro's eyes widened, before he quickly turned around with his hands to his face. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The elder twin quickly said, "Nothing, Keimei-sensei. With your permission, I'll ring the doorbell?"

Nichiro seemed to wipe his nose, then slipped a red handkerchief into his pocket and turned around, but didn't look Naruto in the eye. Naruto nodded at Ichiro, and stared at her students in confusion.

"Konbanwa, minna-san," greeted an adult male voice, and Naruto looked up to see Teruo. His hair was slicked back again with the few strands framing his face, and was also dressed in a shirt and slacks. He smiled disarmingly at them, and his eyes widened a little when he saw Naruto.

"Naruto-san. You look lovely this evening," he complimented her, and stood back to allow the trio to enter. Naruto just grinned at him.

"That's the second compliment tonight. Any more and I might start believing it," she laughed.

Nichiro covertly glowered at Eriko's elder brother behind his back as he led them up the path in the well-tended garden to the house.

Xx

Xx

Eriko had squealed upon catching sight of her sensei, and that had brought her parents into the living room. The three guests greeted the hosts politely, and Naruto had almost smiled in relief to note that their eyes weren't cold. She had relaxed a lot after the introductions.

They were now in the dining room. Tanake-san occupied the head of the table, with his wife, Katsumi-san on his left and Eriko and Nichiro next to her. Teruo sat on his right with Naruto next to him and Ichiro next to her. Dinner was pleasant, with pleasant conversation about current affairs in Konoha and a few surrounding minor villages, their training, and a few funny stories. Naruto fervently thanked Hinata-chan for teaching her proper etiquette earlier that day, after she had finally managed to get rid of Ino and Eriko. She hoped she hadn't made any embarrassing mistakes; she still couldn't really remember everything Hinata-chan had taught her, and was really amazed at Hinata-chan's knowledge.

"Naruto-sensei, what do you think of Eriko-chan's prospects as a ninja?" Tanake-san asked as dessert was served. Katsumi-san quickly served Nichiro and resumed her seat, waiting for Naruto's answer.

The blonde smiled at them both. "Eriko's doing well, and she'd go far if she puts her head to it," she answered honestly. "I have high hopes for all of my team."

Tanake-san smiled indulgently at her. Katsumi-san asked, "They're your first team, aren't they?" and at Naruto's nod, she went on, "You seem to be doing very well for a first-timer. Eriko-chan always has stories to tell about you and the team, and she always praises you so much, we just had to meet you for ourselves."

Naruto blushed to the tips of her ears at the praise, and Teruo chuckled lightly beside her.

"You've made her blush, haha-ue," he commented with a grin. "Although I guess I can understand why koneko-bo would praise her so much."

"Ah… well…" Naruto mumbled and ate a spoonful of her dessert.

Tanake-san kindly changed the subject. "I understand you've informed your team concerning your… status as jinchuuriki, Naruto-sensei," he began carefully, and noted that Naruto started to tense a little, although the pleasant expression never left her face. "May I enquire as to when and how… you became female? I, along with the rest of Konoha, understood that the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was male." The man smiled pleasantly at Naruto to show that he was genuinely curious, and did not mean to offend her.

Naruto forced herself to relax, and grinned at her students' puzzled looks. "Sandaime-ojiji used a very advanced henge jutsu on me a few days after I was born, to protect me. Girls are generally considered weaker than boys, you see, and ojiji felt that as a boy it would discourage people from… mistreating me than if I were my real gender. He named me Naruto coz apparently it was what my father would have named me if my mother hadn't stopped him. I had no knowledge of this during the time I was a boy, and had the shock of my life when the henge was dispelled after I got into a… huge fight."

Her students' eyes were wide, and Eriko's jaw was hanging loose. If it wasn't for the fact that they had been taught to control themselves, the Hyuuga twins' jaws would have hit the table as well. Naruto grinned at them.

"Interesting!" Katsumi-san commented after blinking at the blonde in surprise. Naruto just grinned at her.

"Your necklace is beautiful, Naruto-sensei," Eriko commented. She was seeing it for the first time, since Naruto usually kept it under her vest.

"This?" she asked, fingering the crystal. "I got it from Tsunade-obaachan six years ago. Shizune-neechan says it's cursed, but I've been fine so far. Came close to dying a few times, actually died once, but Tsunade-obaachan managed to get my heart restarted, with some help from my… tenant, so to speak. But I'm still here." She grinned.

Her students' eyes widened again.

"Hokage-sama gave it to you?" Ichiro asked. "I recognize it from certain history books I have read. It used to belong to the Shodai, didn't it?"

"The Shodai Hokage?" asked Tanake-san. Ichiro nodded.

"Yeah, Shizune-neechan mentioned it belonged to Tsunade-obaachan's grandfather. I won it from her. She bet that I couldn't master a jutsu within a certain period, and I managed to do it, so she had to give it to me," Naruto explained.

Teruo raised an eyebrow. "You won it that easily from her? I would have thought that Hokage-sama would treat such a priceless heirloom with more care."

Naruto almost scowled, and managed to catch herself in time. "Don't misunderstand! It was precious to Tsunade-obaachan, and it's precious to me. She bet it because of the circumstances we were in at that time."

Tanake-san looked intrigued. "Sounds like an interesting story, perhaps you would like to enlighten us?"

Naruto hesitated, and glanced at the curious faces around the table, then gave in with a small sigh. "Ero-sennin – I mean the Sannin Jiraiya – took me with him to search for Tsunade-obaachan so that she could come back to Konoha to be the Hokage. Unknown to us, Orochimaru had already approached her with an offer that was hard for her to refuse at that time. She… had to be convinced to come back to Konoha with us, and it so happened that I got on her nerves, so she bet that I couldn't master the jutsu I had been learning at that time. It turns out I managed to learn the jutsu in time and help during the battle with Orochimaru, so Tsunade-obaachan gave me the necklace and agreed to come back to Konoha as our Hokage."

The faces around the table showed that they were impressed. Naruto was a little tickled to see the Hyuuga twins grudgingly show that they were also impressed.

Teruo-san chuckled again. "I have a feeling that you gave us a much-abridged version of the real circumstances and your role in convincing Tsunade-sama to return," he commented, smiling at Naruto. The blonde smiled and moved her eyes away but didn't comment.

"What was the jutsu, Naruto-sensei?" Eriko piped up.

"Huh? Oh, it was the rasengan," Naruto answered. Ichiro narrowed an eye at his sensei.

"How long did it take you to learn the rasengan, Keimei-sensei? It couldn't have been too long if you had to convince Tsunade-sama to return to Konoha," he said.

Naruto took a slow breath. "It took me slightly over a week to manage the imperfect form where I had to use a kage bunshin to help me with it. I've since been able to fully master it."

Ichiro's eyes widened. "One week? But it took the Yondaime three years!"

"Sugoi!" Eriko said loudly, admiration for her sensei obvious on her face. Naruto twitched uncomfortably.

"Well, there is a difference, coz Ot- I mean, Yondaime-sama had to develop the jutsu from scratch, whereas Ero-sennin taught me the bare basics and I had at least that to build on."

Tanake-san narrowed his eyes at the blonde suspiciously. "I understand it is still a great achievement, Naruto-sensei. Who were your parents, if I may ask? I'm sure they would be proud of your achievements."

Naruto hesitated, and glanced at Tanake-san, who was smiling pleasantly at her. She didn't need to look to know that everyone else was curious as well.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" she asked in comical distress.

Eriko grinned at her. "Nope!"

The blonde's eyes half-closed in resignation. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you would keep this to yourselves for the time-being. No one else knows about this yet, except my former sensei, Ero-sennin and Tsunade-obaachan, though I guess if obaachan had her way, the whole village would know about it soon enough." She sighed. "I was born Namikaze Keimei," she noticed Tanake-san narrowed his eyes at this, "and my mother was Uzumaki Kushina, and my father's name was… Namikaze Minato."

Tanake-san and Katsumi-san's eyes widened, and the Hyuuga twins inhaled sharply. Eriko and Teruo were left looking confused at everyone else's reactions.

"…Honto?" Nichiro asked breathlessly.

"Honto," answered Naruto with a sigh.

"The daughter of _the_ Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina – our Eriko-chan's sensei, and having dinner in our house!" Katsumi-san breathed.

Eriko frowned. "Why is everyone so impressed? Who is this Minato person?"

"The Fourth Hokage," Ichiro answered after a pause. "Our sensei is the only living legacy of the great Yondaime."

Eriko leaned back in her chair and stared at her sensei in amazement. Teruo turned to face Naruto properly, astonishment etched on his face.

Naruto covered her face with one hand. "This is why I don't want to tell people yet, no matter what Tsunade-obaachan thinks," she sighed for the nth time that night. "I want to be known for who I am; I don't want to live in my father's shadow. I want to be acknowledged as Uzumaki Keimei Naruto, not just as the Yondaime's daughter. I want to become Hokage on my own, not because of who my father was. I want to surpass him, so that otousan and okaasan can be proud of me."

The blonde peeked through her fingers at the sound of soft clapping. She dropped her hand to stare at Tanake-san in puzzlement.

"Why are you clapping, Tanake-san?"

"You have earned my respect, Naruto-sensei. I'm impressed that you strive to become great on your own, without relying on your father's name. I am sure your parents would be proud," the man answered sincerely.

Naruto smiled gratefully at Tanake-san. "Thank you…"

Xx

Xx

"See you tomorrow, Keimei-sensei. Oyasuminasai," said Ichiro, and both the twins bowed respectfully before leaving. Naruto frowned a little at their retreating backs. They had never been this respectful before. She narrowed her eyes – she knew it. They were looking at her differently now that they knew she was the daughter of Namikaze Minato.

She scrunched up her face in resignation – she'd have to have a talk with them tomorrow. The blonde turned to Teruo and Eriko, who were standing at their gate beside her.

"Oyasuminasai, and thanks for the dinner, again. I really enjoyed myself," she smiled at them. Eriko grinned up at her.

"And we enjoyed learning about you, Naruto-sensei! You rock!" she exclaimed. Naruto laughed and Teruo chastised his sister.

"Well, you guys forced out almost all my secrets," she said with a playful wink. "There goes my mysterious edge."

Teruo laughed pleasantly, and offered to escort her home, but she politely declined and headed off with a wave, again missing Teruo's lingering gaze.

Eriko smiled knowingly to herself.

Xx

Xx

Naruto sat on a large rock as she watched her team pull weeds in a large garden. Eriko was grumbling under her breath, and the Hyuuga twins looked disgruntled as they crawled around the place. Naruto grinned a sadistic grin at them, remembering how she'd curse and curse when she'd had to weed gardens as a genin.

She went over the dinner last night in her mind. She did have fun, in spite of them prying a few secrets from her. She was loud, and tended to boast a little about kicking people's asses, but when it came to the real thing, she didn't like broadcasting her own achievements. Last night was the first time she had ever told anyone about that little Tsunade-retrieval trip. She hoped they wouldn't spread the news about her heritage.

She had talked to the Hyuuga twins, and told them to forget about who her father was, and treat her based on how much they respected her, not her heritage. The twins hadn't said anything, but Naruto sensed they got the message, because they were sort of going back to the same level of respect they had for her prior to last night.

Back to the dinner. Naruto had really enjoyed the closeness she could feel the Tanake family had, that they had extended to her and the Hyuuga twins last night. She was glad for her students, that they had families to go home to, and to have meals with. Her heart ached – she had always wanted to know what it was like to return home to family, to be able to sit down to a proper meal with family. Her face took on a wistful expression, then widened in a smile as an idea popped into her head.

Xx

Xx

Sasuke quietly closed the door behind him, and saw that the kitchen light was still on. _Strange,_ he thought. It was rather late – the dobe would usually be in bed by now.

He had forced a few extra hours of training out of Kakashi because the jounin had been late this morning. Or rather, this afternoon, since the sun was right above his head by the time the tardy older man arrived with a flimsy excuse he obviously didn't expect Sasuke to believe. Sometimes Sasuke wondered why he even bothered with the lame excuses.

_Perhaps the dobe forgot to switch off the light_, Sasuke thought irritably. He wouldn't put it past the baka to forget. He walked towards the kitchen to flick off the switch, but his hand froze at the switch.

On the dining table were two simple dishes – one vegetable and one meat – and two untouched bowls of rice. Chopsticks were laid out on their holders, and everything was arranged neatly on placemats facing each other. At one of the placemats was a blonde head buried face down in a pair of arms.

Two places… was the dobe waiting for him?

The blonde was obviously asleep, since she didn't sense his arrival. His throat felt a little tight at the thought that she had fallen asleep waiting for him, and his face and ears grew pleasantly warm.

Sasuke blinked and forced his usual coldness to return, then stalked loudly to the fridge and opened it roughly, then pretended to search inside with as much noise as he could make. Behind him, he sensed the blonde wake up with a start.

"Sasuke?" came her drowsy voice. "…Okaeri. Are… are you hungry? I cooked some dinner and waited for you to come back, coz I thought maybe you'd like dinner… I really enjoyed myself at dinner at my student's house last night, the food was great, but eating with others instead of having to be alone was even better, you know? It was like a getting a glimpse of how family meals would be like, and I thought I'd maybe try to cook something to share with you…?"

The brunet could easily detect the evident hope in her tone by the end of her rambling. He straightened, closed the fridge, and without so much as a glance in her direction, strode out of the kitchen. He heard a soft and disappointed "Bastard" from the blonde.

He went into bathroom and took a quick bath. As he stood under the shower, memories rose – memories of his own family meals a long time ago. He remembered looking forward to meals where his father and brother would both be home, since they were always working. He remembered how his mother would hum to herself as she moved about the kitchen, and how she'd smile as she served her family their meal. He remembered how content he had felt to be able to sit and eat with his family, how he'd always smile when his father and brother were home and the family sat down together.

He remembered the lonely meals in his apartment six years ago. He remembered the thick silence in the kitchen as he sat alone eating whatever he cooked for himself. He remembered remembering how it was like before his aniki decided to _test his strength_, and he couldn't help compare those times to these lonely meals. He remembered hating it.

Sasuke closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He was feeling guilty, too. The dobe was just trying to be nice. With a guilty start he realized that she had never had a dinner with a family before. She just wanted to share her discovery, her happiness, with him. Typical Naruto – always trying to make others happy. Eyes closed, he reached out and turned off the shower.

He toweled himself dry and slipped into his boxer-briefs and the loose sweatpants he usually wore to bed, and draped his dark blue robe around him, and tied it at the waist. He stepped out of the bathroom and leaned a little on the doorframe.

He missed eating with his family.

Maybe eating with the dobe wouldn't be too bad. Hopefully. He was hungry, anyway – he hadn't had time to eat since breakfast. Ignoring the heavy feeling that decided to lodge itself in his chest, he walked quietly to the kitchen, and stopped at the door.

The dobe was eating, but very slowly. She seemed to be almost choking down her food. Her eyes were bright, and Sasuke realized they were bright with unshed tears. His heart tightened at that realization. Her gaze was unfocused, like she was thinking of something. He watched as she mechanically brought her chopsticks to her mouth, opened her lips and swallowed the food with difficulty. Her blonde locks tumbled into her eyes, but she didn't brush them away. Sasuke was seized with the sudden urge to brush them out of her face so he could see her beautiful blue eyes.

He sighed quietly as his stomach grumbled inaudibly. Schooling his face into indifference, he strode to the table and took his seat opposite her, and reached for the bowl of rice and chopsticks. From under his eyelashes, he saw her start with a look of surprise on her face, which quickly morphed into a beautiful, genuine smile. He almost smiled at the sight of her smile, and slapped himself mentally. He was getting soft – he couldn't afford getting soft, not with a clan to avenge.

Naruto watched Sasuke eat with graceful movements, surprised at his sudden decision to join her. She had been hurt when he'd walked out without acknowledging her at all, and she had to force the food down her throat.

She observed the way his damp hair stuck a little to his face and obscured the view of his eyes. His skin was as pale as usual, and seemed to glow a little after his bath. His dark blue robe fell open at the chest, and she could see that he wasn't wearing a t-shirt underneath it. He was a handsome man, she thought with a slight blush. No wonder the girls were crazy about him. If what she remembered six years go was accurate, he was already good-looking back then. And now having matured further, there was no denying that he was handsome.

She watched Sasuke eat with a soft smile on her face, then started eating again. The food didn't seem so dry this time round. And there was that odd feeling in her heart, a warm sensation that she could only describe as contentment.

* * *

**The Author has More to Say:** Does this make up a little bit for all the crap Naruto had to endure from Sasuke? ;-D heheh. There's something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember what it is… 

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	15. Chapter 15 On Purpose

**The Author Says:** Been busy this week. Wanted to update on Thursday, but had a dinner to attend. And on Friday I had to meet someone. So, yeah. And there might be more bad news to come (no, I'm NOT giving up this fic!), but it isn't confirmed yet (the possible bad news, I mean) :-D This chapter is a bit of a filler chapter, though there is some character development. Warning: lousy (and thankfully brief) fight scene ahead! Oh, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Pervy!Nichiro moment! XD It might be even more insignificant than that, though… :-( sigh.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! You guys are so good to me! –bows in gratitude-

U/L: 24th February 2008.

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**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 15 - On Purpose**

* * *

Naruto couldn't help smiling today – that happy feeling just wouldn't leave her. Who'd known it would feel so nice and satisfying to have your rival sit down and eat the dinner that you cooked?

She walked to the bridge where Team Seven normally met with a bounce in her step and an extra-cheerful expression on her face.

"Ohayou, minna!" she greeted the genin.

They stared back at her.

"You got laid, sensei?" Eriko blurted out. Naruto flushed a bright red.

"What? NANI?! NO!"

Eriko noted Nichiro had pink tinges on his cheeks. _Heehee, someone has a crush on Naruto-sensei!_ she cackled inwardly. Outwardly, she said, "You have that silly, happy look that niichan would have sometimes the morning after he came back late from the red light district."

The jounin flushed to her ears. "NO!"

Eriko giggled at her flustered sensei. "Just kidding, sensei. Chill!"

Naruto spazzed a little, then forced herself to calm down. She glared at Eriko, who giggled in response. The blonde cleared her throat and forced the blush down.

"Team Seven," she began authoritatively, "our mission today is a simple C-rank. We're delivering a bit of cash to a certain place in Tanzaku Gai. We can make it there and back after lunch if we hurry, then we can squeeze in some light training after that."

"Details, Keimei-sensei?" Ichiro inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto twitched and huffed. "We're delivering the money that Tsunade-obaachan owes a gambling den from her short vacation five months ago."

"Ah…"

"I see…"

"…"

"Well!" Naruto exhaled, grimacing a little. "Let's get going, shall we?"

xx

xx

Naruto swung back and forth as she suspended herself upside down from the tree branch with her knees locking her securely in place. Her hair cascaded below her head in a golden spiky-ish sheet, and her face was a little red from blood that decided to obey gravity.

Her students were on other branches around her, standing upside down as they attached themselves to the tree bark by chakra. They had been at it for almost two hours. Naruto had joined them for about half an hour before she grew restless, and decided to spar with a kage bunshin, while another kage bunshin kept careful watch on the genin. Now she was cooling off as she watched them herself.

She was a little impressed that they had managed to stick to the tree bark for that long, especially Eriko. She herself could never keep that still for that long.

The blonde swung herself by her knees as she watched the genin. She could tell Eriko would be giving up soon – beads of sweat had started to form on her forehead.

"Ano… Naruto-san? Eriko-chan?" called a voice below them.

Naruto stretched her head to look downwards, and saw a familiar head of honey-coloured hair standing below her.

"Naruto-san? Koneko-bo?" Teruo called again, apparently puzzled at their absence.

Naruto grinned and signaled her genin to remain quiet. Eriko grinned back, and watched her brother walk forward a little till he was almost under her.

"Koneko-bo? Naruto-san?" Teruo called again, louder this time. Eriko giggled, then lost her already waning concentration and fell downwards.

"Argh!" she shrieked, and fell into the waiting arms of her brother.

"Koneko-bo! Did you just fall out of the sky?" Teruo asked, incredulous. Eriko laughed at him.

"You have good reflexes for a civilian, Teruo-san," Naruto called down to him from her perch. Teruo started and looked up to see Naruto's upside-down face a few metres from him.

"Ah, konnichiwa, Naruto-san," he greeted with a pleasant smile. Naruto grinned at him, then straightened her legs and somersaulted towards the ground to land softly. Teruo looked impressed. He set Eriko down and Naruto called for the Hyuuga to come down as well.

"What brings you here, Teruo-san?" Naruto asked curiously. Eriko nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, niichan, what are you doing here?"

Teruo gave his sister a look of mock-hurt. "Can't I come see how my little kunoichi is getting on in her training?"

Eriko giggled, and Naruto half-smiled at their antics. Teruo chuckled.

"I just thought I wanted to come see how all of you were doing, since I was free. Also, my okaasan sent something…" Teruo trailed off as his eyes raked the grass under the trees for something. "There!"

The man darted to the spot he had been standing in before Eriko fell and picked up a paper package and a few flowers wrapped up nicely. Eriko squealed happily at the sight of the package.

"You managed to get the tarts!" she said with a big smile. Naruto raised an eyebrow, and Teruo smiled at his sister.

"Yeah. I had to queue for almost an hour, though, so you'd better enjoy them! I hope they're not too damaged. If they are, it'll be your fault!" he informed her with a wink. Eriko pouted.

"What! Why will it be my fault?"

"I had to drop them when you decided to drop from the sky," he pointed out, and Eriko pouted again.

Teruo turned to Naruto and handed her the flowers – a sunflower surrounded by baby's breath and small white daisies. Naruto's eyebrows shot up.

"Just a little something for the sensei of my little imouto," he said with a smile. Naruto still had a confused look on her face but took the flowers anyway.

"Err… thanks, Teruo-san. I love the sunflower, it's so bright!" she said. Teruo grinned.

"Just call me Teruo, Naruto-san."

"Same here! Naruto will do, or Keimei – whichever you prefer," Naruto exclaimed as she ran a finger over the heart of the sunflower with a smile.

Eriko watched them knowingly, then snuck a glance at Nichiro, who had a disgruntled look on his face. She giggled inwardly – the drama! The girl fished a tart out of the bag and passed the bag to her teammates.

"I was wondering, Keimei, if your team is free for dinner? I would like to treat you all," said Teruo. Naruto looked up at him with her cheeks puffed up from the tart she had crammed in her mouth.

"Mmf?" she chewed and swallowed. "Huh?"

"Dinner. I would like to treat Team Seven to dinner," Teruo repeated, and reached out a hand to dust tart crumbs off the blonde's chin. Eriko watched gleefully as her brother's hand approached her sensei's face, knowing Nichiro was bristling beside her.

"Dobe," cut in a cold voice.

Teruo dropped his hand in surprise and Naruto blinked innocently, then looked towards the source of the voice.

The handsome brunet stood there, a scowl on his face and one hand on his chokuto. Hatake Kakashi stood a short distance behind him with his nose buried in the blue book.

Eriko squealed inwardly – enter the overprotective older/younger brother/cousin/relative (???)!

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto greeted, and held out a tart to him. "Want one? It's quite good."

The brunet (Eriko finally learned his name!) disregarded the tart and continued to stare coldly at the blonde, who scowled at him after a while.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked grumpily, and was about to put the tart in her mouth when it vanished. "Hey!"

"It _is_ good," commented Kakashi, who had appeared beside her, the book still in his hand. "We need the place to train, since the other area is occupied."

Naruto pouted at him. "Whatever! We're done, anyways, and we're about to go for dinner-"

Sasuke snorted, and Naruto glared at him. "What's your problem, teme?"

"No matter how much you train you'll still be dead-last."

"I can still kick your ass, yarou!"

"Hngh," he snorted, then quickly sidestepped the angry sweeping kick Naruto aimed at his head.

The two started fighting, using just taijutsu and kenjutsu. Naruto produced a bunch of kage bunshin to occupy Sasuke by attacking him from both the front and from behind – the way Chiyo-obaasan had advised her to do when fighting the Sharingan three years ago. She quickly unsealed her Sasayaki and threw a few tri-pronged kunai in a circular pattern around her. Sasuke shunshin-ed behind her and took a swipe at her knees. Naruto quickly jumped up and slashed her katana down by the force of the momentum of her drop back to the ground, but Sasuke managed to dodge in time, although his shoulder was lightly slashed, and the white of his kimono-top showed a small patch of red.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde, who was several meters in front of him, face split in a cocky grin. If she had charged her katana with her fuuton chakra, she would've been able to shear his arm off. He waited, and before long, she charged at him again, katana poised to slice across his chest. With a smirk, he quickly formed several handseals.

"Sen'eijashu!"

Two large snakes shot out from his sleeve and wrapped themselves around Naruto in an instant, forcing her to hold Sasayaki in a useless, non-threatening manner. She could hear Eriko's scream from the sidelines, and made a mental note to tell her student not to scream at enemy jutsu. She cursed and glared at Sasuke, who smirked back at her. Naruto struggled, but the snakes had a strong hold, and she could loosen herself.

"I suppose this is part of what you learned from Orochimaru?" she spat.

Sasuke merely looked at her with indifference. "Hn. You lose, dobe."

Naruto glared at him, then grinned. "You wish, teme."

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he realized that his snakes had wrapped Naruto in a position that left her hands right on top of each other because of how she had been holding her katana earlier. Before he could pull back his snakes and attack, she had gripped her katana with her wrists and formed a series of handseals and disappeared in a yellow flash.

From the edge of the clearing, the genin and the civilian watched in awe.

"That's hiraishin no jutsu!" breathed Ichiro. "Keimei-sensei is using her father's jutsu!"

Kakashi half-turned sharply but kept his eye on the fight. "What was that?"

"Ah, Hatake-san, Keimei-sensei has informed us concerning her illustrious heritage," he said placatingly. Kakashi narrowed his visible eye.

"It's true!" Eriko piped up. "Chichi-ue asked Naruto-sensei when she and Ichiro and Nichiro came to dinner with us two nights ago, and Sensei told us herself!"

"Sou ka…" Kakashi muttered thoughtfully, and turned his full attention back to the fight.

"Nani! Naruto-sensei's already won!" Eriko exclaimed loudly when she looked back towards the clearing.

"Yeah," echoed Nichiro disappointedly. He'd been distracted by the little discussion about Keimei-sensei's father. "How did she win?"

Naruto was pressing the tip of her katana against Sasuke's chest, and a bleeding line followed the tip of her katana from the middle of his back. He had his chokuto's edge against her neck, which had a red trail dripping down from where the chokuto was resting. She was grinning at him, and he was glaring at her coldly. His shirt was half hanging off from where it had been slashed.

"Ah! Sasuke-san's injured!" Eriko noted worriedly. "How'd that happen?"

"Naruto moved behind him with the hiraishin, then pressed the point of her katana in the middle of Sasuke's back. Sasuke whirled to face her, causing the blade to cut him all the way from his back, across his arm and halfway across his chest," Kakashi informed them casually. Unobserved by the people beside him, he narrowed his eye at the two in the clearing. Sasuke seemed to have deliberately turned while Naruto's katana point was on him – he would obviously have been cut if he turned, but he moved anyway. Also, he didn't seem to have gone all out on Naruto. The blonde seemed to have realized this as she lowered her katana and wiped it clean before sheathing and sealing it.

"What the heck was that, Sasuke? You didn't even use your Sharingan!" she complained as she gathered her scattered kunai and strode towards the little audience, with Sasuke a few steps behind her.

"Hn."

Naruto turned her head to glare at him over her shoulder. "Bastard! You're taking me too lightly! You think I'm afraid of your eyes or something?"

Sasuke's face kept its impassiveness. Naruto scowled at him and turned to face her genin, and forced a grin onto her face.

"Show's over, and so's training for today. I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?" she said cheerfully.

"You were impressive, Naruto-sensei," Nichiro said quickly, with a tinge of pink on his cheeks, and glared at Eriko, who grinned knowingly at him.

"I have to agree, Keimei. That was impressive," Teruo complimented with a smile as he handed her the little bouquet she had tossed down to fight Sasuke. Naruto took it with a sheepish, embarrassed smile and smoothed out the rumpled plastic wrapping. "Eheheh…"

"Are we still on for dinner, Keimei? You and Team Seven," Teruo asked. Naruto looked up at him.

"I think you need to take Sasuke home and patch him up, Naruto," Kakashi interjected smoothly, hiding a grin behind his mask. Sasuke glared at him.

"I don't need the dobe's help," he stated coldly.

Kakashi shook his head at the brunet and tsked. "You won't be able to reach your back to clean the wound there properly. Naruto will have to do that for you."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke properly. His white top was starting to stain from the blood seeping out from the long cut. Feeling a little guilty (_It's his fault! He was stupid enough to turn with Sasayaki pointed at him!_ she argued with herself), she faced Teruo with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Teruo, maybe next time, ne? I gotta go patch up the grouch."

Teruo looked disappointed, but smiled back at her. "Of course, Keimei. Perhaps another time."

The Hyuuga twins bowed respectfully to her before walking off, and Eriko bid her an enthusiastic goodbye and left with her brother. Kakashi stared thoughtfully after the honey-haired man, and hid a smirk under his mask as he turned to observe the two Uchiha-Uzumaki. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and pocketed his book.

"Maa, since you're in such capable hands, I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Sasuke. Ja, Naruto." He disappeared in a puff a smoke.

Naruto huffed and sighed. "Let's go, teme."

xx

xx

Sasuke bit back a hiss from the sting of the disinfectant that Naruto was applying to the injury on his back. Naruto smirked in malicious amusement and dabbed the cotton-ball soaked in the liquid a little harder onto the red slash that stood out in contrast to the brunet's pale skin. Sasuke let a soft hiss pass his lips, and Naruto softened. With a soft smile and faintly guilty expression, she continued to apply the disinfectant more gently. Her movements, while obviously unprofessional, were those of experience.

"Turn around," she ordered as she gave a last dab to the slash. Sasuke grudgingly turned around on the toilet seat. He was currently topless; the ruined white top was in a heap beside his foot where he was seated on the toilet seat. Naruto sighed at his disgruntled expression and at the continuation of the wound on his arm and chest.

"Why the heck did you turn when I had Sasayaki pointed in your back?" she asked as she cleaned the cut on his arm and chest.

Absently, she noted that his arm was firm and muscled, as was his abdomen. His chest was as pale as ever even though he constantly exposed a triangular patch of it to the sun. She grimaced mentally as she compared his beautiful pale skin to her own lightly tanned skin. She knew that pale skin like his was admired, while her own skin tone was 'less popular', to put it gently. Her heart fluttered and she felt the tips of her ears grow warm when her fingers brushed over uninjured patches of his smooth skin.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in reply, his irritated expression firmly in place. He didn't seem to realize that Naruto was purposely letting her fingers stray a little. The blonde felt a little naughty.

"You could have avoided this whole mess, you know, then you wouldn't have been injured, and I wouldn't have to patch you up. At least I wasn't pressing too hard, so you've just got a surface wound," she continued in an annoyed tone. Sasuke didn't answer but bit his lip as she switched to disinfectant and applied it on. "I really don't know what the heck you were thinking. But I beat you!" she ended in a triumphant tone.

Sasuke snorted disdainfully, and Naruto narrowed her eyes at him and dabbed the disinfectant-soaked cotton ball extra hard onto the cut. Sasuke hissed and glared at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Bastard," she muttered, and rose from her knees to get the bandages and gauze. She put some healing cream Tsunade-obaachan had given her onto the injuries and plastered on the gauze.

"Lift up your arms," she said, and started to wrap the bandage around his torso when he complied. She pulled the cloth so that it fit him snugly – not too tight and not too loose, then fastened it. She then wrapped up the injured arm and shoulder as well, and stood up.

"Done." She stared at him for a while, and he stared back at her. "Hmm…" she said, "you'll be having a bit of difficulty bathing. Can you handle that on your own, or do you need help?" she grinned mischievously at him.

"And if I do?" he asked monotonously. Naruto's eyes widened in alarm and she stumbled a few steps backwards.

"Whoa! No way, teme! I was just joking! You bathe on your own!" she said hurriedly, pointing at him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got up. He grabbed his dark blue robe and put it on, wondering to himself what possessed him to even joke about that with the dobe. Although the dobe's reaction was rather comical, especially since she started it.

"Did you just make a joke?" Naruto asked incredulously. "This has to go into the Konoha Book of Records! Uchiha Sasuke made a joke!"

Sasuke glared at her and brushed past her out of the bathroom and into the living room, where he sat himself onto the couch and reached for a jutsu scroll. Naruto stuck out her tongue at him again.

"I'm going to cook some dinner. You hungry?" she asked, looking expectantly at him.

"Hn."

"Is that a yes 'hn' or a no 'hn'?" she rolled her eyes.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes 'hn'," she said, and stalked to the kitchen. Sasuke heard the sounds of drawers and cupboards being opened and closed, then sounds of chopping and cutting, then pot banging and the sizzle of something being fried.

He took a breath and put the jutsu scroll aside, closing his eyes and leaning back.

He couldn't deny that he went to Team Seven's training ground to make sure the dobe was coming home as usual that night, so that she'd cook dinner like she had last night. Dinner last night had been different from usual. Usually he'd eat something he heated up, and she'd eat her instant ramen, but last night, eating food that she had cooked for the both of them… it had been different. It reminded Sasuke of dinner with his family.

It turned out he'd arrived in time to prevent her from going out for dinner with her team and that civilian man. He narrowed his eyes and wondered just who the man was that he'd offer to treat the team. Probably the genin kunoichi's relative, from what he could see. The dobe must have had dinner with their family the other night, and met this man.

Distracting her was easy – a simple insult and he managed to get her to fight with him. The spar had been refreshing, although, to his annoyance, he had never seen anyone disappear like that before. It was obviously different and superior to the usual shunshin no jutsu. He pondered how he could get the answer out of her, or maybe out of Kakashi, without asking directly, because that would indicate his curiousity. He wouldn't want to give the dobe a chance to boast about her jutsu.

As good as the fight had been, he knew that it wouldn't make her forget about the dinner offer. So yes, he had whirled around with the blade in his skin on purpose. Although he would sooner impale himself than admit that, or the fact that he wanted to have dinner with the dobe.

_Maybe just telling her outright would have been much easier. I would have saved myself the injury…_

He frowned at himself and sighed. Why did he even want to have dinner with the blonde? Why did it bring back the happy memories, and hints of the happy feelings and contentment he had had during his family meals a long time ago?

"Oi Sasuke! Dinner's ready!" Naruto called loudly from the kitchen, and banged a spoon against a metal pot obnoxiously. Sasuke grimaced, and got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen.

Naruto was bringing a teapot to the table as Sasuke slid into his seat facing hers. She carefully poured the tea into two cups, set one in front of Sasuke, one beside her rice bowl, and put the teapot onto its coaster. She plopped into her seat and inhaled deeply, and grinned with her eyes closed into upturned curves. A faint smile flitted across Sasuke's face at the blonde's expression, and was gone by the time she opened her eyes.

"Itadakimasu!" she proclaimed, and snapped up her chopsticks.

Sasuke murmured a quiet "Itadakimasu" before starting to eat. The dobe had cooked a vegetable dish, chicken in soy sauce, and fried a fish for dinner today. The food looked alright, and tasted alright, too.

"Man I was hungry," Naruto commented after a short stretch of silence. She chewed on a piece of fish as she stared contemplatively at the brunet across her.

"You know what, Sasuke? I almost thought you injured yourself on purpose so that I'd cook you dinner," she said after swallowing the fish, and watched with wide eyes as Sasuke choked on his mouthful and quickly drank some tea. His cheeks were tinged with red and his eyes were a fraction wider than normal.

"…You really injured yourself on purpose?" Naruto asked incredulously, pointing her chopsticks at him.

Sasuke poured tea for himself and took a drink. "It's rude to point your chopsticks at someone, dobe."

"Don't change the subject, teme!" the blonde exclaimed. "You're crazy, you know that! If you really wanted me to cook all you had to do was ask! Then I wouldn't have to feel guilty about injuring you, although I did think that it was your fault you got injured anyway!"

Sasuke tried to snort disdainfully, but it came out as a rather sheepish noise. His face was as impassive as ever, even with the faint pink on his cheeks.

Naruto laughed at him. "What, your ego too big to ask someone to cook for you?"

Sasuke ignored her and continued eating quietly. After a few laughs and shakes of the head, Naruto dipped her chopsticks into her rice bowl again. A few mouthfuls later, Sasuke caught something Naruto obviously didn't expect him to hear, since she said it very softly, and under her breath, so that he had to strain to make out the words.

"You could have just asked, Sasuke, since I actually like cooking so we can eat together…"

* * *

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated! 


	16. Chapter 16 Meetings

**The Author Says:** It's confirmed! The bad news is this: I have a full-time job! Yikes. I dunno how my lazy ass is gonna survive a full-time job. And I'm sorry if I made it sound like the news was something really bad! It's just that I am a little upset that my fanfic-writing (and reading!) time will be cut dramatically. Add that to the fact that I'm a lazy ass in the first place, and you get: Even Slower Updates! Sigh. Also, I start work sometime this week, so the next update might take a while.

U/L: 3rd March 2008.

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 16 – Meetings**

* * *

"What are you two doing here again?" Naruto accused.

The silver-haired jounin addressed merely flipped a page of his book and shrugged. "Ask him," Kakashi answered, and pointed over his shoulder to Sasuke, who seemed to be meditating under a tree nearby.

Naruto scowled. "This is Team Seven's training ground, and Team Seven is going to train, so you'd better not complain if you get in our way!" she hollered at the brunet's still form. As expected, he didn't reply. She scowled again.

"Come on, team. We're going to have an all-out spar today, then lunch, then we'll work on water-walking," Naruto said briskly, and marched to the centre of the clearing with her team trotting behind her.

Without warning, she turned to attack Eriko, who squealed and jumped away, but got knocked down by a back-up kick from her sensei. The jounin turned her attention to the two Hyuuga, and whipped out a kunai in each hand to try and get behind their guard. Then she suddenly shifted her attention back to Eriko, who was just standing by the side watching them spar. The girl received a sweeping kick to the ankles, and Naruto crouched beside her prone form with both kunai pointed at Eriko's neck.

"What's with you guys today? The teamwork's almost nonexistent!" the jounin growled. "Eriko, why weren't you helping Ichiro and Nichiro to attack or defend? Instead, you were just watching! And you two, you work well with each other but forgot about your teammate! What if it were an actual situation? Eriko would be dead by now."

Eriko averted her eyes in shame, and the two Hyuuga hung their heads at their sensei's annoyance. Naruto jumped to her feet.

"Let's start again – this time think as a team!"

Sasuke watched the four of them spar with renewed energy. The genin's teamwork was better this time, although they were still no where near able to trap Naruto. He watched as Naruto grinned, jumping, almost dancing around her students. Her movements were graceful, but they were of power. He itched to spar with the dobe, but she was working with her team.

He rose gracefully to his feet and approached the giggling silver-haired jounin. "Training time."

"Naruto and her team are occupying the place. You want to move somewhere else?" Kakashi inquired from behind his smutty book.

"No."

Kakashi raised his gaze from the book to the man in front of him. "It wasn't exactly a suggestion, Sasuke. You'd be interrupting Naruto's training."

Sasuke rested a hand on the hilt of his Kusanagi. "They would benefit from having to train with distractions around them."

Kakashi regarded his charge silently, trying to read underneath the underneath of the brunet's mind. Just what was he up to? Without another word the jounin put his book away, stood up and stretched. "What do you want to work on today?"

"Just spar. Taijutsu and ninjutsu," he replied monotonously, heading for the clearing.

Naruto laughed as she watched Nichiro struggle to escape the rope his foot was tied to as he swung from a tree branch. "That was careless, Nichiro!" she called up to him as she ducked to avoid Eriko's kunai. Nichiro blushed – whether from the blood rushing to his head or embarrassment, she couldn't tell.

The skin at the back of her neck tingled, and she quickly whipped out a tri-pronged kunai and raised it in a blocking motion as she whipped around, just in time to block the upswing of Sasuke's chokuto as he was turning around behind her to slash at Kakashi.

"Teme! Go find somewhere else to train! Me and my team are sparring here!" she yelled at him angrily.

Without so much as a glance in her direction, he disengaged his Kusanagi from her kunai and shunshin-ed to Kakashi at the other end of the clearing, who raised his own katana to block Sasuke's swipe as he appeared beside him.

Naruto threw her tri-pronged kunai towards Kakashi, flashed through some handseals and appeared beside the jounin in a yellow flash.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're interrupting my training!" she complained, glaring at the man. Sasuke sheathed his chokuto and stood calmly next to the older man.

"According to Sasuke, us training together would help your little genin train for a real-life situation," he said casually, tweaking Sasuke's words a little. Naruto scowled at the two men, but couldn't deny the truth of that little statement. Her genin would indeed benefit from it, but what was Sasuke trying to do?

"If this is about dinner, you bastard, all you have to do is ask. Or at the very least, just tell me," she said in an annoyed tone to Sasuke, who just stared at her expressionlessly. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.

"Argh! Fine!" she threw up her hands, then bent down to collect her kunai. "You'd better not harm any of my students, you hear? Or I'll kick your ass so hard even Tsunade-obaachan won't be able to sew you together again!" She wagged the kunai at them, and marched back to her students.

"Yoshi, Team Seven! Training's gonna be a little different today. Those two idiots there will be sparring with themselves, and we spar with ourselves, but it's good training for you to learn to be aware of both your fight and the situation around you, coz there will be times when you end up fighting in a group. Let's get started!" she announced, and immediately flashed through a series of handseals as she jumped towards the trees.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!"

A swamp appeared under her students, and Eriko squealed as she fell backward into the mud. Ichiro and Nichiro were able to jump away in time, but they turned around and held out a hand to Eriko, who grabbed them and allowed them to pull her out.

Immediately they had to evade a hail of kunai, and retaliated with the Hyuuga throwing kunai of their own back at their sensei, since their aim was near impeccable with their Byakugan. Naruto kawarimi-ed to appear behind them, easily escaping the kunai.

"You're lucky I didn't use much chakra so that the swamp is shallow," she informed them cheerfully as she engaged all three in taijutsu. "Or else you'd be sucked to the underworld by now."

Eriko scowled at her and aimed a roundhouse kick at the blonde, who ducked, then jumped backward to avoid the Hyuuga's tenketsu strikes. The skin at the back of her neck prickled again, and immediately she formed a Fuuton: Rasengan in her right hand, a Suiton: Hahonryuu in her left hand, held out her hands away from her team and let the two spheres of chakra combine.

"Kufuu Suika no jutsu!"

The large waterspout that resulted formed a protective wall, causing the gokakyuu that was heading for Team Seven to go out in a deafening hiss. Eriko was thrown backward a meter by the force of the waterspout, and the Hyuuga were barely able to keep their balance.

"Oi! I said no harming my students, teme!" Naruto yelled angrily at Sasuke once she released her jutsu. Kakashi appeared beside her in a puff of smoke.

"Hmm… isn't this the one that you and Yamato used on that Akatsuki member…?" he commented. Naruto scowled at Sasuke's placid face and turned to her former sensei.

"Yeah," she replied. "I got Yamato-taichou to teach me the suiton part. Took me a while to get it right."

"Not bad," Kakashi murmured, his eye curved in an upside-down U.

xx

xx

"Keimei…?!"

Said blonde appeared in front of Teruo immediately, startling the man.

"Hari Jizou!"

Her blonde spikes instantly lengthened and hardened to cocoon her whole body, just in time for four kunai to hit the hardened hair and bounce off uselessly. Naruto exhaled and dispelled the jutsu, and Teruo watched in fascination as her hair receded into its original shoulder length.

Naruto whirled around. "Oi! Were you trying to kill your own niichan, Eriko?" she shouted playfully at the wide-eyed girl.

"I… I… I'm so sorry, niichan!" she said tearfully as she ran to her brother, who scooped her up and gave her a hug.

"It's alright, koneko-bo. I'm proud to see you have good aim, ne?" he said comfortingly, then scrunched his nose. "You're filthy!"

"Eheheh…" Naruto laughed sheepishly with one hand behind her head. "She fell into some mud. I suppose it was my fault. I'll fix that." A mischievous glint appeared in her blue eyes, and before Eriko could protest, she was pulled out of her brother's arms and was suddenly suspended over the stream at the other end of the clearing.

"The wonders of shunshin," Naruto cackled. "And the goodness of a bath!"

She dumped the shrieking and squirming Eriko into the water, and hightailed it back to where Teruo and the Hyuuga were, cackling loudly. Teruo shook his head at the blonde in amusement as Eriko surface, screaming and squealing loudly. The dripping girl pulled herself onto land and stomped back to her brother.

"Naruto-sensei!" she half-shrieked and half-whined. Naruto gave her a huge shit-eating grin, and even the Hyuuga were amused.

"Well, it looks like I have to thank you both for my imouto's bath and for saving my life, Keimei," Teruo said, smiling at Naruto. He bent down to pick up a small bouquet of flowers. "Good thing I decided to pop into the florist's before I came, eh?"

"You didn't have to," Naruto told him a little shyly as she accepted the flowers. This time it was a bunch of ranunculus – red, white, yellow, and most of all, orange ranunculus. "Please don't trouble yourself next time. So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. My pleasure, in fact. I came here to invite all of Team Seven to lunch. My treat, to make up for last night's dinner," he replied pleasantly.

"Ramen?" the blonde asked hopefully with big blue eyes. Teruo was entranced, and nodded.

Naruto grinned. "Sounds good to me!" She turned to Sasuke, who was walking with Kakashi toward the group. "Hey Sasuke, wanna go for lunch?"

"Hn." The brunet walked past the group in the direction of the village. Naruto glared at his back.

"I'll take that as a 'yes-hn'!" she called after him, although she knew it meant more of 'I don't care'. Naruto turned to Teruo apologetically. "Sorry bout him, he has trouble forming words and complete sentences."

Smiling, Teruo shook his head to indicate it was alright. Naruto tensed for a second, then whipped around, withdrew a kunai and sent it hurtling in the direction opposite to where she had been facing. She noted another kunai joining hers, and the two blades sank into the breast of a large black bird that was swooping down at high speed towards the blonde, talons outstretched. The bird melted into black ink that splattered onto the ground. Sasuke appeared next to her gripping his sheathed chokuto, and Naruto turned to her right and looked up in the trees.

"Sai!" she shouted. Beside her, Sasuke relaxed ever so slightly, and a faint scowl curled his lips and furrowed his brows. Said man smiled at the irate blonde.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," he greeted, as the others turned to stare at him crouched on a branch of a tree.

"What was that for?" Naruto yelled at him, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at him. The brunet in the tree hopped down gracefully and walked up to the blonde.

"I see your reflexes have not dulled since becoming a jounin sensei, Naruto-kun. And hello to you, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto hollered irritably at the man for a minute, during which he just smiled at her. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the _replacement_.

"You will not do that again. If you harm her, you will answer to me," he said coldly, the threat obvious.

Eriko stared at Sasuke. Overprotective, much? Sai turned to smile at him, but it was obvious there was no smile in his eyes.

"Careful, Sasuke-kun. One might begin to think you actually care about Naruto-kun," he said calmly. Naruto snorted skeptically, and Sasuke's features morphed back into cold indifference.

"I believe you know what I mean," he intoned emotionlessly.

Eriko stared back and forth between her sensei and the two black-haired men, wondering what was going on. Even the two Hyuuga and her brother were staring at the little confrontation.

"Oi! I dunno what's with you guys, but I just want to eat some ramen, okay?" Naruto cut in quickly. "Sai, what are you doing here anyways?"

The man turned to Naruto. "Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to eat ramen with me, since it's my day off."

Naruto grinned at him. "I'm just about to head to Ichiraku Ramen, actually! Teruo here's gonna treat me and my team, and Sasuke's coming along!"

"Oh," Sai's smile turned a little fake. Sasuke muttered, "I said no such thing."

"Well, you said 'hn', which I took as a 'yes-hn', so you've as good as agreed. And Sai, you can come along if you want. Hey Kaka-sensei, you coming?" Naruto looked expectantly at the jounin.

Kakashi watched the little drama from behind his trusty book, and grinned to himself. "Nope, you guys go ahead. I'll see you here when you're done, Sasuke. By the way, Naruto, don't you think you should consult Teruo-san before inviting everyone and their dog? Ja!" He disappeared with a two-fingered wave.

Naruto looked horrified. "Eep! Teruo! You don't mind, do you? Them coming along, I mean. They'll pay for themselves, of course. Is it alright with you?"

The honey-haired man laughed, although to Sasuke's ears it sounded a little strained. "Of course not, Keimei," he said pleasantly. "Shall we?"

xx

xx

The group made their way into the village. Naruto was holding her flowers, happily playing with the blooms as she talked animatedly to Teruo on her right. Sai was on her left, and inserted a sentence or two every so often. Sasuke was walking a short distance away from Sai, clearly not bothered with the conversation or the people. Team Seven trailed behind their elders. Eriko was eavesdropping on the conversation, Ichiro was uninterested, and Nichiro was covertly glaring at both Teruo and Sai.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto tensed at the familiar voice, then quickly turned to its source with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" she greeted cheerfully. Sasuke could tell Naruto was tense, and wary of Sakura's response.

The medic nin walked up to Sasuke with a sweet smile. The brunet didn't so much as turn in her direction. Sakura faltered a little, but went up to her ex-teammate anyway.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," she said as she planted herself in front of the man. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw clearly for the first time how handsome he was. The last time she had seen him, her eyes had been red and blurry from the tears. He was dressed in a black version of the white kimono-top he used to wear, and it accentuated his pale skin. With it, his whole outfit was dark-hued, and Sakura thought to herself that it made him look like a cool, dashing villain of a manga.

Naruto bit her lip, gathered up her courage, then bounded up to the two.

"Hey Sakura-chan! I haven't seen you in so long! The obaachan been working you too hard?" she said with a grin. The pink-haired woman turned her eyes onto the blonde, who flinched at their hardness.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?" she asked coldly. Eriko's eyes widened.

"Hey! You're the lady who shouted at Naruto-sensei and made her sad!" she said loudly and pointed at Sakura, then made her way to her sensei to stand in between her and the lady. She had dragged the Hyuuga with her – one with each hand – so they stood on either side of the honey-haired girl. Their stance made them look rather protective of their sensei. Ichiro wasn't too bothered, although he certainly didn't want to see Keimei-sensei hurt again, but Eriko and Nichiro were staring defiantly at the older girl.

Sakura looked down at the genin in cold amusement. "What, you need your genin to protect you now? How cute," she sneered. Eriko bristled and opened her mouth to snap back, but Sasuke cut in.

"What do you want, Haruno?" His tone was flat.

At the same time, Naruto tried to reassure her students. "Hey, no need to worry, guys. This is Haruno Sakura, my genin teammate. She's Tsunade-obaachan's apprentice and the best medic nin next to Tsunade-obaachan herself, and she's the strongest kunoichi ever!"

Something in Sakura's eyes flickered at Naruto's praise, but it was gone a moment later. She smiled sweetly at Sasuke.

"I've been looking all over for you! I have an extra-long lunch hour today, Sasuke-kun, and I thought I'd treat you to lunch, seeing as I haven't been able to talk to you properly since I got back from my mission." She tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear and looked at the brunet hopefully.

Naruto brightened. "Hey, why don't you join us, Sakura-chan? We're all headed over to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch! Even Sai's here!"

Sakura glared at the blonde. "I wasn't talking to you, Uzumaki."

"Hey!" Eriko protested angrily. "Don't talk to Naruto-sensei like that! And her name's Uchiha-Uzumaki!"

Nichiro didn't say anything, but it was obvious from his hard expression that he agreed with Eriko, who didn't realize she had just brought up the very bone of contention between the two older kunoichi. More like a one-sided grudge, actually. Ichiro rested his white eyes on the pink-haired woman as well, and it wasn't a friendly gaze.

Naruto shushed Eriko gently, and turned back to Sakura with a smile that seemed genuine, but Sasuke could tell she had to put in some effort to keep it on her face.

"Hey, Hag," Sai greeted with a fake smile as he came to stand beside Sakura. Teruo came up to the group with a slightly puzzled face – the tension in the air was palpable. Sakura reached out and whacked Sai upside the head without looking.

"Is everything alright, Keimei?" the civilian asked concernedly. Naruto turned to him.

"Eh? Everything's fine, Teruo. This is Haruno Sakura, my old teammate and the best medic nin for miles and miles around, next to Tsunade-obaachan herself."

"I see. Pleased to meet you, Haruno-san. I'm Tanake Teruo, brother of the loud little kunoichi there. I hope she hasn't offended you in any way…?" he addressed the medic nin pleasantly.

Sakura observed the good-looking honey-haired man, and noted the way he stood rather close to Naruto. She saw the bouquet of flowers in Naruto's hand, and knew that it must have come from the man – Sasuke wouldn't bother to get flowers for the idiot, not with the way he stood a distance away from her, and Sai wouldn't know about buying flowers for girls. Inner Sakura's eyes glinted – perhaps the man was trying to woo the baka away! If she went along with it, then her chances of getting to Sasuke-kun would increase! Shannaro!

"Pleased to meet you, Tanake-san. Your sister hasn't offended me at all, don't worry. I understand you are all going for ramen? Would it be alright if I joined?" she asked sweetly.

Naruto brightened again, oblivious to Sakura's deviousness, and nodded enthusiastically when Teruo glanced at her, as if for permission. Teruo smiled gently at Naruto, which didn't escape the eye of the other ninja, and nodded at Sakura.

"Of course, Haruno-san."

They walked to the ramen stand – Teruo and Sasuke next to Naruto, although Sasuke was walking further from Naruto than Teruo was. To Sakura's immense irritation, the three genin slyly prevented her from going nearer to Naruto in order to walk beside Sasuke. They always seemed to get in her way whenever she tried to walk closer to the Uchiha-Uzumaki. Sasuke noticed this, and was faintly amused and thankful for it, since it meant Sakura was prevented from latching onto his arm, as he could see she was itching to do. Naruto chattered to Teruo, oblivious to her genin's protective efforts, and Sai strode next to Sakura with an expressionless face.

"Naruto-kun! Welcome!" greeted Teuchi jovially as they group entered the ramen stand. "How's my favourite customer?"

Naruto grinned at him. "Hungry as a horse, ojisan! And I've brought my team and some friends along, too!"

"Hello Sakura-san, Sai-san, Sasuke-san, Eriko-chan, Ichiro-kun, Nichiro-kun," Ayame called from the kitchen. "Glad to see all of you back!"

"Hey, Ayame-neechan! How are you and Iruka-tousan doing? Tell him I'll catch up with him as soon as I can? I feel bad – I haven't had the time to drop by lately," Naruto replied with an apologetic grin.

"We're fine, Naruto-kun, and Iruka understands," Ayame told her with a kind smile. "Although I guess both he and I miss you a bit."

Naruto grinned at her. Teruo quickly seated himself on Naruto's right, and Eriko sat beside her brother. Nichiro happily claimed the seat on Naruto's left, and his brother sat next to him. Sasuke was forced to sit beside the older Hyuuga twin, and Sakura immediately sat on his other side, pulling her stool closer to him. Sai was left to sit next to Sakura.

The meal was pleasant, at least in the right half of the stand. Teruo, Naruto and Eriko were chatting companionably, and Nichiro paid a little attention to them, as did Ichiro. Sasuke ate in silence, and coolly disregarded all Sakura's attempts at conversation, who in turn practically ignored Sai, who kept mostly to himself, but observed Sakura and Naruto from where he sat.

"Sasuke-kun, would you like to go out for dinner with me?" Sakura asked, once the meal was over and they were all outside the stand.

Sasuke didn't even turn to her as he answered curtly, "I have dinner at home." Naruto glanced at Sasuke in mild surprise, feeling a happy smile spread itself on her lips and a flutter of her heart at Sasuke's words. Sasuke wanted to have dinner with her! The brunet started walking off in the direction of the training ground.

Beside Naruto, Sai also tried to get Naruto to agree to dinner, but was answered with, "Sorry, Sai, I gotta be home for dinner." At that, Sakura turned to glare coldly at Naruto, who didn't see it because she was looking with a happy expression at Sasuke's back. The genin, however, did notice it (or at least, Eriko and Nichiro did) and quietly stepped between their sensei and the pink-haired woman, dragging Ichiro with them. Sakura hid her sneer at the three genin, and with an agreeable goodbye to Teruo, left with Sai beside her. Naruto bid a loud goodbye to the two of them, and Sai waved at her, while Sakura gave her the faintest of nods.

Teruo also took his leave of her, saying that he enjoyed himself and might drop by again another day. Naruto grinned at him, thanked him for the meal, and waved goodbye to him.

She turned to her genin and exhaled loudly. "Maa. Back to training!"

xx

xx

Sasuke stepped into the apartment with a vaguely satisfied feeling. The dobe had been cooking dinner every night since the first time, although there were nights she came home a little later than usual because of extended training or longer missions.

He glanced at the open kitchen door as he walked to the bathroom to take his nightly bath. The dobe had her back to him, and was adding something to whatever she had in the frying pan. He noticed she had her hair twirled up with a chopstick, and hesitated for a moment as his eyes followed the curve of her bare neck from behind. Before he could remove his gaze, she turned around, probably having sensed him.

"Okaeri, Sasuke!" she called loudly, and went back to stirring the cooking food. She knew he wouldn't bother to reply, but she still did it everyday with a grin or a smile, depending on her mood.

Sasuke found himself having a faint smile on his face as he let the water run over his body in the shower. He liked coming back knowing dinner was at home, and that there was someone to eat it with. _Unfortunately it had to be the dobe,_ he scowled inwardly, but he knew it wasn't a genuine scowl. Sasuke closed his eyes and raised a hand to massage his temples, not wanting to think about how something as simple as dinner was affecting him so much that he got jealous (as much as he wanted to deny it) if someone else tried to take Naruto out for dinner. He was getting weak, and the worse part was that his level of concern about his lack of hate towards the dobe was way too low for someone who was an avenger.

The brunet exhaled slowly, and turned off the shower, toweled himself dry, got into his usual underpants, sweatpants and dark blue robe and left the bathroom to head to the kitchen.

The dobe was humming some unrecognizable tune as she put down the dishes down. The places were already set, and there was a glass containing a bit of water and some flowers in the middle of the table. Sasuke's faintly pleased mood soured a little. Flowers on the table meant that civilian man had gone to talk to the dobe earlier that day, probably during lunch. For some reason, he always had to give the dobe a bunch of flowers – mostly orange flowers at that. The blonde would always bring back the flowers and use them as a centerpiece for dinner.

Still humming, the dobe sat herself down with an upward curve of the corner of her lips. A few strands of hair loosened themselves from the bun and fell into her face, covering her eyes. Sasuke had to stop himself from reaching out to brush them away, and growled at himself mentally as he sat down.

"Itadakimasu!" came the dobe's cheerful voice, and she pulled the chopstick out of her hair to join its twin on the table, and started eating. Sasuke grimaced inwardly at that, and tore his discreet gaze away from the dobe, mentally growling at himself when he caught himself staring at the dobe. He looked down at the food, and frowned a little. This was the fourth time in two weeks they were eating the exact same set of dishes. He lifted his chopsticks.

"Don't you know how to cook anything else, dobe?" he asked rather snidely. Naruto looked up and scowled at him.

"Well forgive me, your highness, but this is about the extent of my menu. You're welcome to try some other place if the food here doesn't suit your prestigious palate," she snapped back.

Sasuke blinked. The dobe using big words--? She wasn't done.

"Or, you parasitic bastard, maybe you can cook. In fact, why don't you cook tomorrow? And go to the market while you're at it? We're running out of stuff to cook, and I was planning to go tomorrow after my genin's missions, but since you're cooking you can go. About time you contributed to our expenses. My poor Gama-chan's getting thinner and thinner."

_Gama-chan??_ Sasuke's face turned impassive as he swallowed the mouthful he had. "Fine."

Naruto blinked. The bastard agreeing so easily? "You sick or something, Sasuke?" she asked concernedly, chopsticks half out of her mouth. Sasuke stared at her for a second, then continued his dinner in silence. Naruto scrunched up her face in confusion before continuing her dinner, and Sasuke smiled a tiny inward smile at her cute face.

xx

xx

"Heh! Take that you crazy old cat!" Naruto whispered in malicious glee as she watched the daimyou's wife squeeze the hapless cat to her bosom again, for the nth time in six years. That old fleabag had to escape from its owner every time the daimyou and his wife came to Konoha, and it seemed that Naruto was always the one stuck recovering the cat. Eriko glared at the cat, as did Ichiro. The two sported a few claw-marks across their arms and faces. Nichiro snickered quietly.

"Yoshi!" she exclaimed as she turned to her students, satisfied with watching Tora being tortured. "That's all for today, I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

After shooing her students out of the Missions Room, Naruto went to secure a C-rank mission for tomorrow, then left. She hopped down the steps of the Hokage Tower, grinning happily to herself – she didn't have to cook today! Labour-free food tonight!

"Dobe," that familiar voice cut in harshly. Naruto blinked and turned to her right, and saw that Sasuke was standing at the bottom of the steps with one hand on the hilt of his Kusanagi. She raised her eyebrows.

"Huh?"

Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes. Instead, he told her, "Market. Now." and turned towards said place. Naruto scratched her head in confusion before running up beside him.

"I thought you were going to the market today?" she asked, walking sideways to look at him.

"Hn."

"Okay… So I'll see you at home, then…" she said uncertainly, and started walking off in another direction. Sasuke growled under his breath.

"Dobe. You're coming with me. Watch what I get, and learn something new so that next time we won't have to eat the same thing over and over again," he said flatly. Naruto turned around with curious expression on her face that he could not quite read. The expression was quickly replaced by a big grin, and she skipped back to his side.

"Okay! Watcha gonna make, Sasuke? Will you be cooking for the next few days? Will you let me watch you cook? Where did you learn to cook, anyway? Is your cooking even nice?" she rambled happily, not really stopping to give him time to answer, since she knew he wouldn't bother answering anyway. Sasuke gritted his teeth at her incessant chatter.

They managed to get the things they wanted, although Sasuke noticed that Naruto would unobtrusively steer him away from certain stalls, and he saw that the vendors of those stalls were giving her dirty looks. She seemed oblivious to the dirty looks and whispers, but Sasuke found himself twitching a little when he heard some of the things being whispered.

Naruto led them back towards their apartment, speculating cheerfully what Sasuke was going to cook that night.

"Sasuke-kun!" an unfamiliar voice called happily, and a weight latched itself onto Sasuke's hand. His face took on a cold look as he stared down at the leech.

"You're really back! Would you want to go on a date with me?"

Naruto turned to look, and saw a skinny brown-haired girl clinging onto Sasuke's arm. The girl was smiling somewhat seductively at him, seemingly not fazed by his cold glare. Naruto felt something flare up in her, and she started to feel a little angry.

Sasuke didn't spare her any words, he just shook her off his arm and walked off. The girl pouted at his retreating back.

"Sasuke-kun! I'm sure you'll have a good time with me!" the girl called again.

Naruto recognized her as one of her former classmates who didn't manage to pass the genin test on the first try. She glared at the girl.

"Get a clue. He obviously doesn't want to go out with you," she snapped. The girl turned in surprise to face the blonde jounin, and her expression quickly became sneering.

"Well, if it isn't the he-she. Or is it she-he? What do you want, you transgender bakemono?" she sneered. "Sasuke-kun probably married you because he was forced to. He's entitled to have some fun if he's forced to be around a _monster_ all the time."

Naruto bristled. The girl's words stung painfully, mostly because Naruto acknowledged them to be painfully true. She hid her hurt and opened her mouth to snap back at the girl, but Sasuke's monotone voice cut in from where he had stopped further ahead.

"Hurry up, baka. Don't waste my time if you expect me to cook for you."

The girl stared at Sasuke in surprise. Sasuke cooking for Naruto?

Naruto felt something warm wash over her insides, despite the emotionless way Sasuke in which had spoken. She stuck her tongue out rather triumphantly at the girl, and jogged to Sasuke's side, leaving the girl to stare at their backs, surprised, disgruntled and offended.

"Don't call me baka, bastard," Naruto said as she slowed to match the brunet man's strides. He didn't reply, but Naruto didn't mind.

They walked in silence to their apartment, and went straight to the kitchen, where Sasuke noted with satisfaction and relief that the dobe washed her hands with soap before she handled the food. He made her get out the cooking utensils while he cut up the ingredients for the beef stew he had in mind.

Naruto fell to watching quietly as the brunet cut up the foodstuff. He moved with a grace she knew she would never obtain – she was a naturally clumsy and ungraceful person. Sasuke had always been graceful; elegant in a masculine way. Since the time they were genin, his movements had a grace to them that even Sakura-chan never had. Sometimes she would be envious of his agility as she watched him while they carried out missions or sparred. His grace had not diminished over the years, nor was it restricted to his fighting. She found she rather liked watching the way his pale hands moved, handling the knife expertly.

Sasuke realized that the kitchen had become quiet, so he sneaked a peek at the dobe. She was resting her head in her palms while leaning her elbows on the counter to his left. Since she was still standing, her body was bent at the waist. She had a small, absent-minded smile on her face, and he noted that her eyes were following the movement of his hands. He continued watching her discreetly as he filled the pot with water and put it on the stove, and added seasoning and some meat. His eyes took in her slender frame, although he couldn't really see her shape, since she still had on the green Konoha vest. Having traveled the contours of her body, his eyes came back to her face, and he took in the way her whisker-marks curved upwards, following the curve of her cheeks as she smiled. She looked… cute. Her hair fell around her face and neck as she leaned forward, partially obscuring her blue eyes, which had a rather unfocused look to them, like she was watching him and thinking of something else at the same time.

"Switch on the lights, baka." His voice made her start.

"Huh?" she blinked at him, looking a little confused. His face took on a faintly annoyed look.

"Switch on the lights, baka," he repeated as he threw in some vegetables into the pot. "And cook the rice. You should be able to do that, right?"

Naruto bristled, the daydreamy look gone. "And what have you been eating these past weeks if not rice, bastard?" she snapped, and left his side to turn on the lights, then wash and cook the rice. After cooking the rice, she took out the plates, bowls and cutlery, and arranged them on the dining table. When the rice was ready, she scooped it out into two bowls for the two of them, then seated herself and waited for Sasuke, watching him stir the stew. Soon he scooped out some stew into a large bowl, added some garnishing and set it in the middle of the table.

He sat down and watched as Naruto's eyes widened expectantly as the rich aroma of the stew wafted through the room. She licked her lips and grinned.

"Smells great, Sasuke!" she said. "Itadakimasu!"

He waited for her to help herself, and watched a little anxiously as she took a bite. A sliver of pride made him almost smile as he saw her eyes light up as she swallowed.

"This is good!" she declared, smiling at him. "This does it! From now on, you cook!"

* * *

**The Author has More to Say:** Nihihihi…I can't wait to upload the next chapter! ;-) Don't know when I'll be able to, though…

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	17. Chapter 17 Empathy

**The Author Says:** One word. WORK.

U/L: 17th March 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 17 - Empathy**

* * *

Naruto sat up in bed, frowning and furrowing her brows. It was quiet in the apartment, so what was it that had roused her? She was normally a heavy sleeper unless she was on missions, and she had gotten used to this relatively new, comfortable bed a quite some time ago, so the bed wasn't the problem. 

She scratched her head and yawned as she waited to see if she could detect anything. There weren't other presences in the house, as far as she could sense, so she tried to ignore whatever it was that yanked her from her sleep, and started to lie down again-

And there it was. A slight sound, definitely of human origin.

Naruto blinked sleepily as she forced her fogged brain to work. The only other person in the house was Sasuke. Maybe he just couldn't sleep and decided to make himself a drink in the kitchen-

This time it was a sob. A few, in fact. Half-smothered, but Naruto had made and heard enough sobs herself to identify one easily. Feeling vaguely disturbed – Uchiha Sasuke did _not_ cry – she swung her feet over the sides of the bed and forced herself to stand up. She wobbled a few steps to the door and opened it. As soon as she did, she could hear the sounds more clearly. Mumbled words, sobs, and faint thrashing.

Was he having a nightmare? Naruto had had more than enough of those, and still had a few on occasion. She knew how terrifying they were, all the more if there was no one to reassure you after you woke up; no one to hold you and tell you everything would be alright; that it was just a dream and everyone was still safe and alive.

She bit her lip, the last bit of sleepiness gone as she heard the sounds of Sasuke's nightmare become louder and louder. _The nightmare must be getting worse, _she thought to herself. She padded noiselessly to the door of his room and reached for the doorknob, then hesitated. She could hear him more clearly now, but her hand hovered over the metal knob. Should she? What could she do? She knew Sasuke would not appreciate her 'interference', especially in this. He would definitely consider a nightmare as a weakness, and having Naruto intrude would definitely not sit well with him and his pride.

A particularly loud, almost-fearful cry rang out. Naruto hardened her resolve and quietly opened the door.

The sight that greeted her wrenched her heart. Sasuke was having a nightmare for sure; he was tangled in the sheets, fighting with them as he thrashed. His expression was what really touched Naruto – it was pathetic and fearful. Gone was the cold indifference and elegant strength; he looked like a defenseless little boy forced to watch a horrifying spectacle.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do. She knew that it wasn't a good idea to wake a shinobi from their nightmares – they tended to get rather violent, especially if the nightmare involved fighting. She certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever weapon Sasuke might pull out of some crevice, but she couldn't just watch him writhe on the bed.

She swallowed and let instinct take over. Carefully, she put an arm under his shoulders and lifted him up even as he fought her hold. She lifted him and pulled him closer to herself, hoping fervently that the nightmare would go away without him waking up, because she was as good as dead if he caught her this close to him.

"Shh," she whispered comfortingly into his ear. "Everything's alright, Sasuke. Everyone's fine."

Sasuke calmed down fractionally, but his forehead creased as he frowned deeply. "Okaasan! Otousan…" he mumbled. "Don't die…"

Naruto's eyes widened. He was dreaming of his parents? But they died… in the Uchiha Massacre. He was having a nightmare about the night Itachi decided to kill off the clan. She ran hesitant fingers through his hair and continued whispering comforting phrases to him. His midnight-blue hair was wet with sweat, and it wet her t-shirt where his head rested against her stomach.

Slowly, he started to cease his movements, although his face still looked sad and frightened. It was more emotion than Naruto had ever seen on his features since the Valley of the End.

"No! no… Why… aniki? Why?" he mumbled, tossing his head from side to side. Naruto carefully moved her hand to cradle his head gently, and ran the fingers of her other hand through his hair comfortingly, whispering quietly in the darkness, like she had often wished someone would do to her when she was having bad dreams.

Finally he stopped mumbling, and his face grew more placid, although it didn't entirely lose the sad expression. Naruto continued stroking his hair and gently massaging his scalp, feeling the tension flow out of his shoulders bit by bit.

She observed his face, taking in how handsome he was, even with his hair sticking to his forehead from sweat. She sighed quietly, feeling a gentle, sad tugging at her heart that she didn't want to think about as she watched him. She ran the thumb of the hand in his hair over his forehead, tenderly smoothening out the wrinkles, forcing him to unfurrow his brows. She smiled sadly as he sighed once, and felt him lapse into real sleep.

Naruto gave in to the desire to just stay there quietly for a while, with the head and shoulders of her rival and one-time best friend on her lap. Certain emotions swirled within her, but she repressed them, and continued to smooth his forehead and hair. After a while, she ran a hesitant, lightly trembling finger down his temple and along his cheek, then ghosting down to his jawline. He was handsome, and her heart beat faster as she traced an invisible line back up his cheek, temple and forehead.

She ran her eyes down his chest. He wasn't wearing a top – apparently he went to bed topless. She swallowed as she watched the moonlight made his pale, damp skin gleam. He was toned, and she could see his six-pack. He wasn't bulky, but he certainly wasn't bare either. She could also make out the pattern of the seal Tsunade-obaachan had placed over his heart.

She exhaled, and let herself enjoy just sitting there with him, feeling oddly content to have him in her arms. She didn't want to think about why it felt so nice, so right to be with him like this – thinking always ruined things for her anyways.

A subtle change in temperature let her know that dawn would be approaching in about an hour. She ran her fingers through his hair one last time, then tenderly laid his head down on a pillow as she got up. She walked to the door – again, that tugging sensation at her heart came back, and again she ignored it – and turned back to look at him. He was frowning minutely, and a hand at his side was moving a little, as if searching for something. He mumbled something that Naruto couldn't catch. She held her breath and watched him to see if he would slip into the nightmare again, but after another mumble and a bit of head-tossing, he quieted down, and his breathing became relaxed and regular, telling her that he was asleep.

xx

xx

Sasuke's mind wandered as his body responded to Kakashi's attacks.

He knew he had had a nightmare last night. It was around this time that they came back to haunt him. The nightmares revolved around the day he came home late from shuriken practice to find everyone dead and Itachi sliding his katana out of his otousan's lifeless body. He could always recall in unfortunate detail each nightmare he had had the night before. But what was unusual today was that he could remember the beginning and the middle of last night's horror fest, but towards the end, the images started to fade, and instead a sense of calmness had enveloped his mind. It was like he was a small boy again, like when his mother would comfort him when he had nightmares.

It puzzled him, and his inner puzzlement was reflected outwardly as a faint scowl.

He was sure he really did have the nightmare, because his bedclothes had that feel to them that they always did when they dried after soaking up his sweat. The sheets were messed up and tangled around his legs, but strangely enough his head had been lying normally on the pillow, as if he had had a normal night's rest.

A flash of yellow appeared in his vision, and he forced himself to stop sparring as the dobe appeared between him and Kakashi, scowling at them.

"Get out of our training grounds, you two. Me and my team have some serious training to do," she told them. Kakashi shrugged and looked in Sasuke's direction, an indicator for him to deal with the annoyed blonde. It had been his idea to use the training ground they were now in, anyways.

He graced her with his customary reply. "Hn."

The blonde's scowl deepened, but Sasuke thought he caught sight of something in her eyes that disappeared before he could identify it. A thought struck him – did the dobe know about his nightmare? He fervently hoped she didn't; he wouldn't want to reveal this weakness to her. He didn't want to reveal _any_ weaknesses to her, period.

But if she had known about his nightmare, if she had seen or heard him, she would have definitely used the knowledge against him by now. She would have been crowing about how Uchiha Sasuke thrashed and cried in his sleep over a stupid dream, using the opportunity to ridicule him to his face. But she was doing none of that.

After her usual rant, the blonde gathered up her team and used one half of the grounds while Kakashi and him used the other half. They danced around each other, and the baka protected her genin like a mother hen every time he let a stray jutsu or weapon fly their way. She just about bit his head off each time, but nothing in her manner gave away that she knew anything about last night.

Sasuke walked back home with his hands in his pockets. He let himself in and headed to the bathroom to freshen up, then went into the kitchen to prepare dinner – it was his turn to cook. He and the dobe had an unspoken agreement – they would cook on alternate weeks, and this week it was Sasuke's turn. Even as he steamed some fish, he couldn't stop thinking about last night.

His personal horror movie had never just faded away like that before, not in all ten years of living after the massacre. He knew his curiousity about it was overboard, and couldn't really be called mere curiousity any longer, but he really wanted to know what was it that managed to stop the nightmare.

"Tadaima!" came the dobe's cheerful voice. As usual, she headed to the bathroom to wash up, and not ten minutes later came trotting into the kitchen in her usual t-shirt and baggy shorts that went to her knees. She slid down into the seat opposite him and glanced at him to see that he was ready to eat, uttered a quiet 'Itadakimasu,' and started eating. Sasuke watched her discreetly over his chopsticks, his bangs hiding his eyes somewhat effectively as he bent his head down a little.

She looked tired, Sasuke decided, like she hadn't had a good night's sleep last night. A bit of anger and an unsettling feeling rose up – it was possible that she could have heard him last night, and it had kept her awake. Sasuke growled mentally; he hated those nightmares. Not that anyone loved having nightmares, but Sasuke particularly hated his right now, since they served to show the dobe that he was weak.

"Uh? Something wrong, Sasuke?" the blonde's voice shook him from his thoughts. He looked up to see that she was looking at him curiously, her chopsticks sticking out of her mouth as she reached for her glass of water.

Sasuke rearranged his features, which, he realized, had been faintly scowling, into a glare directed at her. Immediately she scowled back and looked away.

"Yarou."

Nothing in her manner today said that she knew anything about last night, but Sasuke was willing to bet the last ryo of his Uchiha inheritance that she knew about last night's nightmare. She had to know, especially since she was only one wall away from him. Sasuke glared at her again, although the effect was lost since she was absorbed in finishing her rice, a scowl on her face. Sasuke returned to his rice bowl.

xx

xx

Naruto sighed as she slipped out of her shorts, leaving her in her t-shirt and the boxers she always wore to sleep. She'd prefer if she could walk around the house as she was now – braless, in a t-shirt and boxers – like she used to when she lived alone and was fairly sure no one would bother her that day. She sighed again. Being a girl was such a hassle.

She grimaced lightly as her thoughts went back to the cause of her first sigh – Sasuke. It wasn't obvious at all, but after living with the ice-block for a few months, she could now sense when there were changes in his moods based on very minute signs. Like today, for instance – she knew he was ruminating about something, and she wasn't too dense to know that it was about last night. He must have been wondering whether Naruto knew about his nightmare, and must have been wondering why she hadn't said anything about it if she did.

To be honest, she had been on the verge of asking him if he was alright quite a few times today, but had restrained herself from showing that she knew about his nightmare. Knowing him, he'd take her empathy as pity and think that she was looking down on him. She huffed exasperatedly. Stupid boys and their stupid male pride. Stupid Sasuke and his stupid inflated ego, stupid 'I-don't-need-anyone' personality. Does anyone know where she could get a pin hard enough to puncture his hard head to deflate his ego?

Naruto rolled her eyes to herself and slipped under the blankets after putting on her beloved, ridiculous nightcap. The nights had become rather chilly, since it was nearing the end of the year. There weren't any seasons in Fire Country, although some said that Hi no Kuni had only one season – a combination of spring and summer, but the weather tended to get colder towards year's end, possibly in lieu of winter. She snuggled her pillow contentedly, and fell asleep almost instantly – she had been deprived of sleep last night.

This time, when she woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she strained her ears. Almost instantly, she caught it – the sound of terrified whimpers and sobs. She took a deep breath and wobbled out of her room and into Sasuke's.

Again, she felt sadness envelope her heart. Sasuke was twisting against his sheets once more, his brows furrowed and his expression frightened. She bit her lip as she moved forward to lift his head gently and slip under so that she could rest his head on her lap, like she had done last night. She bent down and whispered comfortingly in his ear as she ran her fingers through his silky, damp hair, massaging his scalp lightly in what she hoped was a relaxing manner.

With her experience with nightmares, she felt relieved when Sasuke quieted down to mere whimpers and head-tossing. Even those soon melted into occasional mumbles and frowns. She continued smoothing his hair and forehead, feeling warmth and fondness for him rise in her chest.

Instantly mental warning alarms blared. Fondness? For Sasuke? She _was_ fond of him, in a rival/best friend way, but dense as she was, she knew what she was feeling was beyond rival/best friend fondness, and maybe even a bit past brotherly fondness. She averted her eyes from his handsome, frowning face and swallowed. The motion of her fingers stilled as well, but continued when Sasuke started whimpering, and was glad that he stilled when she resumed her petting.

Did she… was she in… with him?

She didn't want to think about it. She was an action person, not a think-about-it a.k.a. broody person. She did brood on occasion, but only when there was no one around to see her drop her Naruto-the-happy-idiot act. Not that she wasn't happy – she was, but sometimes thoughts occurred or things happened and she would just want to be alone and brood, down to the unhappy, scowl-y expression most brooders had.

Bah. She stamped down that funny emotion and returned her attention to the man in her arms.

_What?_

Naruto blushed to the tips of her ears at that thought, and focused on the movement of her fingers as she forced the blush down. Her other hand cradled the brunet's head, much like last night. She let her eyes run over his face, and the fingers that were in his hair started to follow the trail her eyes had made. Her heart fluttered.

He was topless again, and clad in his sweatpants, which had ridden down a little due to his trashing, and she could see the waistband of his boxers clearly against his pale skin. Dark blue, from what she could make out in the dim moonlight. She bit her lip and tore her eyes away from the sight. Her blush was back, full force.

She had to leave before she did something stupid and woke Sasuke up. After making sure that he was calm and his breathing was even – indicating he was sleeping – she carefully, gently got up and walked slowly to the door. When she didn't hear anything from behind her other than quiet breathing, she slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

xx

xx

Sasuke's eyes shot open and he released a somewhat tense, angry breath.

He was right; it had been that baka. And it was worse than he thought – she did not merely _know_ about his nightmare, it had been her that brought him out of it. And he was even more angry to find that he felt contented, comforted, safe even, with his head on her lap. The feeling of her fingers running through his hair made him just want to close his eyes and relax-

_Idiot!_ He scolded himself. That was Naruto! The idiotic usuratonkachi! No way would he feel safe (_safe!?!_ Inner Sasuke spluttered) when she was with him!

But he couldn't deny what he had felt, and his heart ached as he hated himself for being so weak and yet still wanting that safe feeling, that comfort to come back. His fingers curled around the bed sheets as he fisted his hands, his eyes staring at the ceiling in the semi-darkness.

The moment he felt his nightmare fade, he had forced his mind into consciousness, and was appalled, horrified to find his head on the dobe's lap and her fingers in his hair and on his forehead, stroking that comforting rhythm. He had called on every bit of training and reserve he had to stop himself from tensing and alerting her to the fact that he was no longer asleep. She hadn't sensed that he was awake, judging by the continuous motion of her hand.

But why didn't he just chase her out of the room?

Sasuke closed his eyes tight, angry at himself, angry at the dobe, angry at Itachi, just angry.

xx

xx

"What's wrong with you today, sensei?" came a young girl's annoying voice.

Sasuke tried to filter out the voice as he meditated. Or attempted to meditate.

He was on a broad branch in one of the trees that ringed the training ground Naruto's team used. Kakashi had a mission today, so he was left to his own devices, with his usual ANBU guards that he had learned to ignore in the trees around him. He had come here on the off chance that the dobe and her genin had a mission that would keep them away from the area and thus allow him to use it (that was what he told himself), but when he arrived after being informed of Kakashi's absence, the blonde and the three chibi were already hopping around the place. So he had decided to meditate in a nearby tree, ignoring the annoying, logical voice in the back of his head that told him to find a more isolated spot.

"Huh?" came the intelligent answer. Sasuke could immediately identify the idiot's voice, even though it wasn't as annoying as it sometimes was.

"You look tired and stiff, Keimei-sensei," another voice stated bluntly, but respectfully.

"Oh," the blonde said, and a light cracking sound was heard after a slight pause. The young girl's voice shrieked "Sensei!" in a reprimanding tone, to which the dobe replied, "Ahh… that felt good," then continued in a slightly sheepish tone, "I just, uh, fell asleep in an awkward position for a bit too long last night, so my back's a little stiff. Anyways!" Sasuke could practically hear the grin in her voice, "We're done with training for today! Team Seven has a C-rank mission!"

The young girl could be heard cheering. Sasuke frowned, feeling disappointment rise. C-rank mission? Did that mean she'd be out for the night?

"Yoshi! Iku ze!" the blonde cried, and in a few seconds the area became quiet, but not before something came zooming at high speed and precision, aimed towards Sasuke. Sasuke himself did nothing, seeing with his Sharingan that the kunai had a message wrapped around its handle, and, more importantly, according to its current trajectory, it would hit the tree trunk beside his head.

Before the kunai could come too close, though, an ANBU had materialized and knocked it off course with a kunai of his own so that it landed further from Sasuke's head than the thrower originally intended.

Sasuke had been repressing his chakra so that the dobe wouldn't sense him, and he knew the ANBU did it as well, as a matter of course. So was the kunai really intended for him? He calmly pulled out the weapon from the trunk as the other ANBU appeared next to the first, and unwrapped the piece of paper. A faint smirk curled the corner of his lips.

_Don't worry, Sasuke,_ the note read in the dobe's messy writing, _I'll be back in time for dinner. And yes, while I will be gone from Konoha, I won't be far away. Akatsuki hasn't been moving anyways, according to Ero-sennin, and I'll have my own ANBU guarding me, not that I need them, because I can kick anyone's ass without help. So don't worry about losing your Itachi-bait, but you can miss me all you want, alright, bastard? The Rokudaime Hokage-to-be_, here, Uzumaki Naruto was written, then scratched out and followed by Namikaze Keimei, which was scratched out and replaced by Uzumaki Keimei Naruto, which was again scratched out, and finally there was a hesitant _Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto._

xx

xx

Sasuke opened his eyes very carefully. That same fading of the nightmare and rise of the feeling of being safe and comforted happened again, and he had forced himself to wake up without giving away that fact to the dobe, whose lap his head was currently comfortably resting on. After a while, he sensed that she was moving to get up, so he (with much embarrassment and self-disgust) had twitched and moved his head a little, making it seem like the nightmare was coming back.

Like he predicted, she had immediately stilled and started raking her fingers through his hair tenderly again. Her movements reminded him of his mother, and yet they were different from his mother's touches. He was really tempted to just smile drowsily and drift back to sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake.

Earlier, during dinner, he noticed that she was rather tired, and had been yawning widely now and then.

Again, just like he anticipated, her movements were slowing down and becoming a little sporadic, until they ceased entirely. He had waited a few minutes as he listened to her quiet breathing before he opened his eyes.

She was sitting in an uncomfortable-looking position – the best she could manage so that she could put him on her lap. No wonder she had been stiff that morning, if she had had to stay in this position for some time the night before. Sasuke sat up very slowly; trying to make sure she wouldn't wake up, then turned to look at her again. Her face was in the shadows, but he could see that she was clad in a simple loose t-shirt and— were those boxers?!

He stared a little incredulously at her choice of sleepwear for a second. Number one unpredictable ninja indeed. A faint blush tinged his cheeks, and he exhaled lightly as he looked at her awkwardly-sitting form. Finally coming to a decision, he moved so that he was on his knees in bed, and reached out to slip his hands around her shoulders and knees, and, ignoring the cold voice of logic and aloofness at the back of his head and slightly raised pulse rate, maneuvered her so that she was laid out on her back on the outer side of the bed.

He felt… he didn't quite know what he felt. That screaming voice was yelling at him to wake her up and kick her back to her room, but… it had been a long time since he felt this safe, this calm. He wanted to deny it, but couldn't – he usually felt like this (when he allowed himself to admit it) around the dobe, especially the past two nights when the nightmare had faded. And he didn't want to let it go. He just wanted to release the tension, the hatred, the stiffness in his frame just for a few moments and allow himself to feel the almost-alien feelings of being cared for; comforted. So he did. The dobe… it galled him that she would probably realize now that he knew what she had been doing, but since she hadn't held it over his head (she had had two days' worth of chances, if she hadn't done it so far she probably wasn't going to do it, or so he hoped) he just wanted to relax.

It was very relaxing, Sasuke admitted to himself very reluctantly. He laid on his back, facing the ceiling, and closed his eyes. Very relaxing…

xx

xx

Naruto's eyes popped open. The ceiling was a little different from how she remembered the ceiling of her bedroom to be… and come to think of it, the smell of the room was different, too. And she never slept so close to the edge of the bed. Why should she now that she had a larger bed? Slowly, she turned her head to her right, caught sight of those familiar features and blue-black hair, and promptly fell off the bed.

_What? Uh? How? Had she? What? He…? Did he?_

Thoughts ran jumbled up in her head as she stared incredulously at Sasuke, in his bed. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide as she stared at his sleeping figure. His chest was rising and lowering gently, indicating he was breathing.

A little more calm than she had initially been, she wondered furiously, _How did I end up lying in his bed? With him in it? I've never fallen asleep the last two nights! What happened? He's gonna kill me if he finds out!_

Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and ran out the door, only remembering not to bang it at the last moment.

Sasuke turned to face the closed door and surprised himself by letting out a light chuckle. The sound of her falling onto the floor had woke him up, and he had covertly observed her out of the corner of his eye, taking in how she just remained as she had fallen – a jumble of legs and hands, and hanging jaw and wide, wide blue eyes – and restrained himself from smiling at the comical sight.

He sighed, before allowing the self-berating emotions and thoughts to come over him again. _Weak,_ he told himself. Weak. To want someone to be with him, to want to feel safe and cared-for. Weak.

xx

xx

Tonight he woke up to the wonderful feeling of literally being in someone's arms.

He felt himself relax, then his heart started to pound as he took in the warmth of the two arms encircling him, loosely pinning his hands to his sides, and the warmth of the chest on which his back rested. His head was resting comfortably in the crook where the neck and shoulders of the person holding him met.

The person holding him, hugging him. Na- the dobe.

He should feel angry at her, angry at himself. But instead his heart pounds, his chest expands with a light feeling, his muscles relax, and his nerves become sensitive. So sensitive that he can feel the contours of the dobe's back through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. He felt his cheeks heat up as he realized he could feel the mounds of her soft breasts pressing against his skin through the cloth. A jolt sped up his spine – she was definitely not wearing anything under that t-shirt. He swallowed heavily.

He felt so comfortable. It felt so good to be in someone's arms, knowing that the person actually cared for him. The last time someone had given him a hug was… he couldn't even remember. He didn't care, all these years. He didn't need these useless gestures of affection. He didn't need these emotions to hold him down. But if that was true why did it feel so… to be in someone's arms? To be in the dobe's arms, to be precise. He knew instinctively that if anyone else had tried to even touch him in this way, they'd be introduced to one of the many ways he could kill with just one hand.

He opened his eyes and found his cheek resting against the dobe's chin. It was dark tonight, so he couldn't see much, just the faint outline of the tan cheek, and a bit of the tip of her nose. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, fighting against the sudden desire to raise a hand and touch her face. Against the desire to press his lips against the cheek that was so, so close. His heart was pounding painfully, and it wasn't because of the nightmare he had awakened from, he knew that very well.

He could feel her breathing – the movement of her chest, her soft flesh alternately pressing and relaxing against his back. He felt her arms slipping downwards, freeing his own arms, and her head lolling to the side, away from his.

Tonight's dream… he had been remembering the horror of watching that man's blade slide out of his otousan's body. He had remembered scrambling to get up and run away from the monster his aniki had become. He had remembered how his heart had pounded in fear as he ran away, out of the Compound, how he had felt so useless, how he had not been able to save his parents, or anyone, for that matter.

His fear must have translated into violent thrashing, he supposed, that had forced the dobe into hugging him to calm him down. He vaguely remembered some whispered, comforting words as he dreamed he was running away from all the blood and corpses, though he couldn't remember the exactly what had been said. Not long after he heard the whispers, the images began to fade and he had woken up.

Sasuke sat up carefully so as not to wake the blonde, then turned around to look at her. It was a moonless night, so he could only see the outline of her body slumped against the headboard. She was wearing a pair of boxers again, he noted with a faint upward curve of his lips, then his heart started racing when he realized her legs were spread rather indecently, and that he had been lying between those legs not five seconds ago.

He swallowed heavily and quickly pushed her legs together, both thanking and cursing the darkness that he couldn't see anything other than outlines, silhouettes and shadows. He tensed as the dobe tossed her head slowly and mumbled something incoherent, and relaxed when he saw she hadn't awakened. Like the night before, he maneuvered her so that she was lying in what he half-hoped was a comfortable position on the outer side of the bed, before settling on his side next to the wall. Unlike the night before, he turned so that he was on his side, resting his head in one curled hand so that he could look at her.

Just as his eyelids were drooping, he heard a sharp intake of breath from the person next to him, and could imagine the tensing of muscles that probably came with it. Absently he wondered if her breasts would tense as well, and his cheeks turned pink. This time he thanked the darkness, knowing that the dobe wouldn't be able to see the colour of his face, and quickly pushed the thought to the back of his head, wondering where it had come from. He certainly had never ever thought about such things before. Before coming back to Konoha. Before ending up with the dobe.

The woman by his side jolted upright in bed. He could see, with half-closed eyes, that she was staring at him. He could feel the intensity of her gaze, and the nervousness that rolled off her. A second later she quickly moved her legs over the side of the bed, and Sasuke felt a stab of uncharacteristic panic. He shot out an arm and gripped her upper arm. He could feel the rigidity of her muscles under his touch. She didn't turn back to look at him, but at least she wasn't moving away anymore.

He tried to convey the command, the request, the plea, in his touch that he couldn't bring himself to vocalize.

_Stay._

Without looking at him, and with painful slowness and hesitance, she moved her legs back onto the mattress and lowered herself onto the bed. She resolutely kept her face to the ceiling, away from him, but he didn't care. He slowly loosened his grip and slid his fingers off her arm, making sure to touch as much skin as he could, feeling her tense at his trailing fingers. He drew his hand back to his side, and, satisfied that she wouldn't be moving away, closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.

xx

xx

When he opened his eyes again it was morning, and she wasn't beside him anymore. But he could see the human-shaped depression in the mattress where she had been, and when he hesitantly put his hand onto the mussed sheets, he could feel the warmth seep into his palm. For the first time in many years, his heart felt lighter than it had ever been.

* * *

**The Author has More to Say:** 8D

Additional note. I misspelt 'thrash' as 'trash', so I've corrected the errors. Much thanks to **Adela Nightmoon** for pointing that out!

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	18. Chapter 18 Wrapped Flowers

**The Author Says:** Me's sowee!! Work has been tiring, and I've yet to adjust to working life.

Thank you for all the reviews! You guys are really generous with your praise, and I'm sure I don't deserve all of it, but it really encourages me. I may not have the time to reply to every review, but I do read every one, and I treasure them all. Please don't be annoyed if I seem to ignore your suggestions. I read them all carefully, but the thing is that when I publish a story, I make sure I have the entire plot in mind – the main points, at the very least – the exposition, the major events, the climax, the conclusion. If you point out faults with my writing, I may be too lazy to change the chapters I've already written (I always have a reserve of a few completed chapters ahead of the one currently on FFnet) unless it's a major thing, but I do keep them in mind as I work on the latest chapter. And I am planning to incorporate one or two things you readers have mentioned into future chapters. So fear not, your suggestions do not go to waste!

Now, to anyone out there who is wondering, especially to an anonymous reviewer going by the name **Jade**, I am female. 100 percent female – boobs, oestrogen, PMS and Barr bodies – the whole works. Don't know what I'm talking about? Google it. And as to **Jade**… if my story pissed him/her/it off so much, why did he/she/it have to read further after leaving a scathing review of chapter 4, and leave another review for chapter 12? rolls eyes It annoyed me, and _might_ have delayed the update a little. Yeesh. And the guy/girl/thing who claims he/she/it is schizophrenic, my first bit of advice would be to get a dictionary. Secondly, if you can tell it's the schizophrenia talking, then please erase the foul language before you submit the review. I have no inclination to read pointless cursing, especially when I have no idea what you're talking about. Got a problem? Tell me in a civilized manner.

-Exhales slowly-

On a brighter note – I had a really nice surprise when some of you guys pointed out the meaning of the flowers Teruo gave Naruto. I didn't research the meanings until after I got the first review telling me the meaning. I just went 'what flowers come to mind when I think of Naruto?' Heheh, interesting coincidence, eh? That made me smile.

U/L: 20th April 2008

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 18 – Wrapped Flowers**

* * *

She was herding her team towards the Hokage Tower when her eyes caught sight of a familiar head of spiky blue-black hair going in the opposite direction some distance away from her.

She felt her cheeks heat up just a little bit and her heart start going faster as she remembered last night. How this time she actually remembered lying back down in the bed, with him next to her. They hadn't touched, but her heart had been racing the whole time, and she couldn't sleep much.

Her head shot up as a thought struck her. Lie back down _again_? Does it mean that Sasuke had made her lie down? A voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she inwardly thanked Eriko for it.

"Sensei? Sensei!" the girl waved a hand in front of Naruto's face. Naruto blinked and shook her head.

"Huh?"

"We're here," Nichiro answered quietly.

"Huh? Oh." Naruto scratched the back of her head sheepishly as Ichiro rolled his eyes at her.

"What's with you today, sensei?" Eriko demanded, planting herself in front of the blonde jounin, staring searchingly at her face. Naruto flushed faintly and waved her hands.

"Nothing! Come on, let's go get our mission. I did promise a C-rank, didn't I?" she said quickly, hoping to divert their attention. Thankfully, it worked as Eriko cheered and turned around to lead them into the Missions Room.

_What was Sasuke doing in this part of town? I've never seen him here before,_ thought Naruto. She felt unduly curious, so, as she lagged behind her team, she quickly created a kuso bunshin and shunshin-ed out of the Hokage Tower.

She had to cover quite a distance before she saw him again – that distinctive duck-ass blue-black hair moving at a good speed away from the throng of Konoha. She hopped a few roofs and landed beside him.

"Hey, teme. Watcha doing? Never seen you around this area before," Naruto commented bluntly by way of greeting. Instead of silence or the usual irritated 'Hn' she expected, he gripped the wooden bucket in one hand and the wrapped up bunch of what seemed like flowers (she couldn't see them properly because he held them downwards, but they were wrapped in the style in which one usually wrapped flowers) in the other hand a little tighter and said coldly, "None of your business, baka."

Naruto paused mid-step and gawked a little at him in surprise. "Tell me! I'm just curious, coz you'd never go to those shops on the west side of the Hokage Tower! I mean, what could you want from there?"

Sasuke kept walking, and Naruto kept pestering him, until he stopped short and turned to give her a cold glare.

"None. Of. Your. Business."

Naruto caught sight of green stems jutting out of the narrow end of the conical wrapping – they were definitely flowers. But what was with the bucket? She raised a cheeky eyebrow at him, although her heart was mysteriously (okay, maybe not mysteriously) aching. "Aw, Sasuke, you bought flowers? Who's the lucky girl, huh? Huh?"

It seemed the wrong thing to say, because the intensity of the glare increased and a little killing intent seeped out of him.

"Come on, Sasuke. I know you hate me and all, but you could at least tell me? I could give you advice on how to get her!" her voice was cheerful and mischievous but her heart was aching painfully at the thought of Sasuke buying flowers for someone else.

The killing intent flooded her senses, and she quickly raised her hands in a placating gesture as she felt the ANBU usually following Sasuke around make their chakra presences felt; a warning.

"Fine, fine, don't tell me! I don't care, it doesn't matter anyway! Go woo the poor girl you've chosen to be your little baby factory, bastard!" Naruto said grouchily, a little bitterly, and crossed her arms. Sasuke scowled darkly at her and turned away from her before continuing down the street at an even faster pace than before. The blonde stared after him for a while, admiring the view she had of his posterior, before giving herself a mental smack when she caught herself at it.

_Idiot. So what if he is trying to get another girl? Makes it easier for me – that way I won't have to even think about producing Sharingan babies!_ she scowled to herself. _But why is the thought of him with someone else so painful for me?_

She detected his presence two seconds before Sai materialized beside her.

"Hey dickless," he greeted, and ducked fluidly out of the way when Naruto swung a fist at him.

"What, Sai?" she asked, happy for the interruption. She didn't really want to start thinking about that right now.

He smiled his usual fake smile at her, but Naruto could tell he was really trying to inject sincerity into it. She smiled back at him.

"I was wondering if you'd be free for lunch today, Naruto-kun, as I have a mission in the evening, and would like to have lunch with you before I go."

Naruto blinked at him before shaking her head. "No can do. Sorry, Sai, me and my team have a C-rank today, and I'm actually supposed to be at the Hokage Tower right now."

He looked disappointed, and Naruto silently cheered at his increasing ability to express emotions before feeling guilty. "I see."

"How's about lunch when you come back, huh? Come find me and I bet you could come to lunch with me and my team sometime soon," she said quickly, in a mollifying tone. She grinned when he brightened.

"Okay," he responded. "By the way, stop trying to emulate Kakashi-san. You should stop at just being a pervert; it really wouldn't do for you to be tardy, too." He quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke as Naruto glared red-faced at him.

"Yarou!" she shouted to the empty spot where he had been, and huffed. She wasn't a pervert! Sure, she had read Icha Icha Violence before, but it was boring! She wasn't a pervert! She had merely been staring after Sasuke, and it so happened that her eyes were on the same level as his ass!

Speaking of Sasuke, she quickly decided to track him down and spy on – she meant observe – who the lucky – she meant unlucky – girl was. Just for future reference, in case she needed a live target for stress-release.

Naruto wasn't too good at tracking – nowhere near Kiba and his kick-ass nose, but she managed to pick up Sasuke's trail and chakra after about five minutes of just going in the direction he had been headed in. At first, she kept to the leafy branches of the trees by the roadside. Sasuke continued walking towards an area she knew was abandoned. She herself had never been there; she had just realized during one of her rambles around Konoha that there were never people coming or going in that direction. It was always deathly quiet there. _Why was Sasuke going there?_

Soon they came to a brick wall that had once been painted white. It was now faded and flaked off in some parts. Sasuke walked towards an arch. Naruto paused on the tree nearest to the arch as Sasuke walked in like he owned the place, and swallowed. A sinking feeling developed in her gut.

In the middle of the arch was the Uchiha crest. This was the Uchiha Compound.

Biting her cheek, she hopped onto the roofs of the buildings inside the Uchiha Compound and stayed a discreet, guilty distance from Sasuke's figure, which was almost ghostly amongst the long-empty buildings, even in the broad daylight. She followed him to the end of the main street, which ended in a large, fenced-in open space. A graveyard.

Sasuke walked past the graves nearer to the gate of cemetery towards the back, and slowed as he reached the newer-looking graves. He stopped in front of one grave. The gravestone was more elaborate than the ones next to it; it was obviously the grave of someone important. Naruto leaped to the roof nearest to the cemetery and crouched down out of sight. She could see Sasuke quite clearly, and was careful not to make noise as she spied on – observed – him, since he would probably be able to hear her quite well.

Sasuke laid down the flowers out of the way, and coincidentally, they ended up pointing in Naruto's direction, so that she could clearly see that they were a bunch of white chrysanthemums – offerings to the dead. She felt like kicking herself in the butt.

She watched as Sasuke scooped water out of the bucket with the wooden ladle that was in the bucket, and slowly and carefully poured the water over the gravestone. He worked methodically, so that the gravestone was quite clean by the time he was finished. He stood silent for a while, staring at the grave, before putting the wooden bucket next to the flowers and picking up the flowers. He turned back to the grave and knelt down, respectfully putting the flowers in front of the stone before clasping his hands together in a prayer gesture, bowing his head.

Naruto's heartache returned, but for different reasons. The grave obviously belonged to that of Sasuke's parents. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like to have lost her parents at such a young age; it was a different thing to have grown up not knowing one's parents at all, compared to having lost one's parents at a young age; it was different never having parents around compared to having one's parents rudely and horrifically (if the nightmares were any indication) taken away from one. She didn't know exactly how the Massacre occurred; only that Itachi was responsible for it. It must have been pretty gruesome if Sasuke still had nightmares about it ten years after it happened. She wondered exactly what had he been forced to see, and her heart went out to him.

"You can come out now, usuratonkachi," Sasuke's voice floated to her clearly, and she cringed. Absently she noted that it had somehow lost a fraction of the coldness it always had. She bit her already injured lip, not realizing that doing that caused it to bleed, then decided that since she was already exposed anyway – the bastard must have known that he had been shadowed the entire time – she shunshin-ed to appear a respectful (embarrassed) distance away from him.

"Looks like I have to work on my stealth, huh," Naruto commented, not looking at his face. Her stealth wasn't too shabby anymore, but then again it was Uchiha Sasuke. She growled mentally – would she ever be able to surpass him in anything?

Sasuke remained quiet as he rose from his knees, but didn't face her. He continued to stare at the gravestone. Naruto followed the direction of his eyes and silently read the names and dates on the stone.

_Uchiha Fugaku._ From the birthdate, this must have been Sasuke's father.

_Uchiha Mikoto._ She remembered him saying that his mother's name was Uchiha Mikoto – the name on the paintings in the living room at home.

With a guilty jolt, she realized one thing when she read the date of death. _Today_ was the anniversary of the Uchiha Massacre. Naruto grimaced guiltily and turned away from the gravestone. _Open mouth insert foot._ And she even accused him of wooing a girl with the flowers. _White chrysanthemums._ She may not have known the use of the wooden bucket and ladle, but she definitely knew what those specific flowers were for. _Freaking_ white _chrysanthemums._

She felt like taking a mallet to her head. Those humongous kind the anime characters loved using. She had a feeling Sasuke wouldn't mind doing it for her.

"Err… I didn't realize… I mean I didn't know about today… that today was…," she stammered guiltily. A slight copper taste filled her mouth, but she ignored it. "So… I guess I shouldn't have said what I said earlier… bout you and girls and babies… not that I'm jealous or anything," she quickly added the last bit, hesitated, then sighed, looking at her feet and tugging the edge of her vest absently. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke didn't make a sound, so she paused the _Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!_ rant in her head and steeled herself to look up. Her breath was nearly blown away, and a very faint tinge of pink dusted her cheeks despite her efforts to will it down.

The brunet was looking calmly at her without his usual coldness – just expressionless, this time. She noticed that his face looked rather… sad. There was something about his face that made him look both sad and expressionless at the same time. His eyes were noticeably softer than what she had been used to. She could easily read the loneliness in his eyes, the hurt and the pain. They were almost a mirror of her own eyes at times. But there was a tiny bit of something else in his eyes that she couldn't decipher.

Without warning, he extended a hand towards her face. Reflexively, she tensed and moved her head back sharply, but his hand didn't pause. He formed a loose fist and gently wiped away something from her bottom lip with his thumb. Her heart pounded as she stared at him and him at her.

It stung faintly when his thumb touched her lip and rested softly there, and time seemed to have stilled. During that moment, Naruto found herself acutely aware of the light breeze ruffling her hair and his, of the sunlight, of the open space around them, of the light pressure of his thumb against her lip, of the thudding of her heart, of his beautiful onyx eyes staring into hers. Her breath caught and held.

Then, he moved his thumb, his hand, his gaze away from her as he turned away and started walking towards the gate after picking up the bucket. Naruto stared a little stupidly after him, raising her own hand to touch her lip where it had been touched a few seconds ago. It stung again, and Naruto absently noted that she must have bitten it earlier – Sasuke must have been wiping the blood away. Her brain, which had always been accused of being absent, decided to live up to its fame and abandoned her as she tried to think of something to yell at him. He beat her to it.

"This is the Uchiha Clan Private Cemetery, usuratonkachi. Only Uchiha are allowed here, and you aren't an Uchiha," he said without turning around. His voice had gone back to the usual coldness, flatness.

Naruto blinked, then scowled as she broke out of her daze and jogged to catch up with him. "Shut up, yarou. Why would I want to be an Uchiha when I'm a Nam- Uzumaki?"

Sasuke didn't seem to have noticed her little slip, so she breathed easy. Then something struck her.

"Ne, ne, Sasuke," she said as they walked out of the Uchiha Compound. Sasuke, as usual, didn't acknowledge her, but she continued anyway. "Must you pour water on the grave and bring flowers every time you visit the grave or is it only on the death anniversaries that you do that?"

The brunet faintly raised an eyebrow as he looked at the blonde from the corner of his eyes. Her face was serious and wistful at the same time, and her eyes a little unfocused, as if she was thinking of something as she walked. Uncharacteristically, he decided to humour her.

"You clean the grave with water on the death anniversary, but you can bring flowers anytime you go."

Naruto smiled a small smile at that, still not looking at him. "I see. Thanks, Sasuke."

A part of him was curious, and wanted to ask her point-blank who her parents were, but he restrained himself. Instead, he walked with her back into town, rather grudgingly enjoying the quiet walk with her next to him. He wondered what she was thinking about that kept her quiet. The last time it happened, it had been about her parents. This time it was probably the same, he decided, then realized that if she was asking about cleaning graves, they were probably dead.

Predictably, Naruto walked towards the ramen stall. The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was probably noon or after. After a second of hesitation, he continued by her side to the stall as well, and watched in mild surprise as she stiffened and cursed when she lifted the flap of the stand. He lifted the flap of the stand and took a seat, raising his eyebrow a little when he noted that there already was a Naruto seated there, with the genin team she usually dragged around. He wondered which was the kage bunshin. It was the one in the shop, he decided. The Naruto who had been with him had been bleeding, as he knew quite well.

On hearing the curse, the other Naruto, together with the three genin, swiveled around. Naruto-2's expression matched Naruto-1's expression.

"Shit."

"Sensei?!" came the outraged cry from the girl, and the two Hyuuga didn't look too happy either. Simultaneously, all three genin whipped out kunai and threw them hard into the Naruto seated with them, who shot them a 'how-could-you-betray-me' look before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The genin then turned to glare at the standing Naruto.

"Naruto-sensei! How could you run off and leave us with a kage bunshin? On a C-rank mission, too!" the girl complained, glaring what to Sasuke was a weak version of his death glare. Naruto immediately brought her hands up in a placating gesture.

"I had something important! And for the record it was a kuso bunshin, not a kage bunshin!" her voice was a tad squeaky. Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eyes with faint malicious amusement.

The Hyuuga who had been sitting one seat away from the kuso bunshin, as the dobe called it, raised an intimidating eyebrow, and all three genin crossed their arms and waited expectantly.

The blonde jounin eeped. "I can explain!"

Xx

Xx

Sasuke opened his eyes and glared at the ceiling.

Today was the anniversary of the Massacre; of his parents' deaths. The nightmares always stopped today. Like clockwork.

So why couldn't he fall asleep? Unfortunately, he had a very good guess as to why, and the answer to that was blonde and blue-eyed. Or rather, the answer was the lack of a blue-eyed blonde.

He glared even harder at the ceiling. It had been only four days since the nightmares and the nightly appearance of the blonde. How could he have gotten used to having her next to him so fast? He grudgingly admitted that he wanted those feelings back – the comfort, the contentment, the calmness that the dobe could somehow bring. And he was angry with himself for even wanting them. For wanting her.

Like that impulsive action in the graveyard this morning. He still didn't quite understand what drove him to do that, and was very grateful that that was all he had done; he had not given in to the urge to kiss her. He felt disgusted with himself. _Wanting_ to _kiss_ the _dobe_? _Arrgh._ He squeezed his eyes shut and willed for sleep to overtake him.

After a few minutes he opened his eyes again. Strange. The ceiling should have burst into flames by now, judging by the intensity of his glares.

He sighed, exasperated and angry, and wanting so much to just give in and either go to the dobe or drag her here. Finally after a vicious internal argument with himself, he got up and padded to her room, and put his hand onto the doorknob of her bedroom door, but didn't twist it. He could hear _that man's _voice taunting him in his head.

_Weak. Not enough hatred._

_Weak._

His own voice was replayed to him.

_Those bonds are useless! I've severed those bonds!_

He gripped the doorknob tightly and closed his eyes. Other more recent memories rose. Of how his nightmares had been chased away. The feeling of having her run her fingers through his hair. The warmth of her arms around him and her breasts pressing into his back and her legs beside his own. Of how good, how relaxing it was to just have her next to him.

He twisted the doorknob, willing down his pounding heart that had sped up even more after he realized he didn't know if she was decent when she slept.

His heart sank when he saw the empty bed.

The sheets were tangled up. The fluttering of the curtains caught his eye, and he saw that the window was half opened. A bit of dread rose in him – what happened to the dobe? Where was she? Had she left? Had she been taken?

He quickly reached out with his chakra and found her presence nearby. On the roof, alone – if one were to ignore the very faint, familiar chakra of the two ANBU who had to keep an eye on him at night. He stared at the open window.

Xx

Xx

The moonlight was dim tonight, but Naruto didn't mind. She had come up to the roof to brood, and she preferred to do it in the semi-darkness, anyways. She was sitting hunched on the roof tiles with her knees drawn up and circled by her arms. Her cheek rested sideways, causing her face to be carefully turned away from the ANBU who were a discreet distance on the opposite roof.

Her face was… broody, if there was such a word. A tired, mildly scowling expression; the cheerful, idiotic mask off her face and personality. No one had seen her like this – no one had seen her brood before. Tsunade-baachan, Ero-sennin, a few ANBU and lately Iruka-sensei had seen her serious, and Tsunade-baachan and Kakashi-sensei had seen her when she had been emotionally down, but they had not seen like this.

The night air was cold, and her skin tingled mildly.

There was a lot to brood about. She hadn't had the chance to brood about the discovery of her parents' identities yet. But as much as she wanted to think that over, that issue wasn't the foremost in her mind.

Why did Sasuke do that in the graveyard this morning?

Why had he made her lie down beside him instead of kicking her out when he woke up from his nightmares?

Why didn't he let her leave when she woke up?

Why hadn't she left when she woke up?

Why did she want to lie next to him again, to be able to run her fingers through his hair and down his face, to be able to stare at his calm, handsome face as he slept, to want to hold him in her arms again?

It disturbed her, to want to do all that to her rival.

She figured she didn't register high on the EQ scale. Living alone for your whole life did that to you, she supposed. She knew what anger was, what sorrow and loneliness were, but she had a hard time figuring out why her heart sometimes started pounding, almost nervously, when she was in close proximity to him.

She had an inkling. She knew she was fond of him in a twisted, brotherly-slash-rival-y way. But she thought of Sakura as a sister and Iruka-tousan as a father, and she was pretty sure her feelings ran deeper and were more complicated for the bastard than they had ever been for Sakura-chan or Iruka-tousan or even Tsunade-obaachan and Ero-sennin, her two aunt/uncle figures.

It was a bit of what she had felt when she was twelve and male, and had had a crush on Sakura-chan, but it was deeper than that.

If she had the energy she might have blushed a little, but in her brooding mood she just felt too tired to do anything.

She was pretty sure Sasuke didn't think of her as anything other than a means to an end. It still hurt, but she was Namikaze Keimei / Uzumaki Naruto / Uzumaki Keimei Naruto / Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei Naruto. She was pretty good at tucking away her hurt and pain, so that nobody knew that Naruto the happy idiot was capable of being hurt like any other normal, emotional human being.

On a side note, she had better get round to deciding which name she wanted to use.

Back to the issue at hand.

She knew she wanted more from Sasuke. She wanted for him to be more than an unfeeling ice-block to her. She wanted to be more than a mere tool to him. She wanted him to acknowledge her. But at the same time she didn't want all these things, because she knew more than anyone how sometimes hoping for things that never came to pass caused heartache.

She never gave up on some things, like how she promised to bring Sasuke back and was finally able to keep her promise. But she learned that when it came to emotional matters, putting too much hope into a wish sometimes resulted in unnecessary heartache. Like how she wanted to be loved and acknowledged by the villagers. It was beginning to happen, but it took a long time and lots of hurt – not that she ever allowed that to get her down. Uzumaki Naruto never let anything drag her down. But she also learned that when it came to dealing with someone's emotions and decisions, things became messier and trickier, and the result was often painful for her.

Argh. She was thinking in circles, but she couldn't, wouldn't focus on what she guessed was the reason for her frustration. She shoved _that_ particular thought to the back of her mind, hoping that it'd stay buried for good. She really didn't need that right now, or ever, for that matter.

Her mind blanked out for a while, then an image of a face rose. The features of the face became clearer as her mind began to lazily, absently fill it in. Narrow, aristocratic face. High cheekbones. Intelligent forehead. Nice, shapely blue-black eyebrows. Long blue-black bangs by the side of the face that hid his ears, and droll spikes in the back. Beautiful, deep pools of onyx for eyes…

She stared at the image her subconscious decided to send her, before closing her eyes and willing the painfully-familiar face away.

A sudden presence materialized at the corner of the rooftop that she recognized in less than a second. She didn't bother to tense, didn't bother to acknowledge the presence.

"……"

He didn't move, his eyes boring into her side. She was starting to get annoyed. She wanted to brood alone, was that too much to ask? She scowled and drew her hands a little tighter around her knees. Her heart started beating a _little_ faster than normal. _Gah._

They stayed like that for almost fifteen minutes, both not wanting to move yet wanting to be by the other's side. Finally, moving without a sound yet with the other's full knowledge, Sasuke padded silently across the roof to stand by Naruto's side. A little closer than what they were used to.

The blonde's heart beat faster, and she didn't want to look up. Suddenly, she felt cool fingers encircle one of the wrists her head was lying on, and the fingers tugged gently, almost like a plea for her to get up.

The presence next to her and the feel of the fingers on her skin was all that her mind could register.

There was that tugging again, a little harder this time, but not hard enough to be considered aggressive or demanding. Naruto bit her lip. She could guess what he wanted, and truth to be told, she wanted it so much, too, yet was afraid. Afraid of being used then dumped like a worn-out tool.

_But if I get some benefit out of it as well, I suppose it won't be too bad…_

Just as the fingers were loosening, she uncurled herself, never looking at him, and knowing that he wasn't looking at her either. It was merely a win-win situation to them; feelings and emotions need not get involved. She knew him well enough to know that he only did something when there was benefit for him, not out of his feelings or, Kami-sama forbid, out of consideration for someone else. But her heart still raced nervously as the fingers tightened slightly and helped her stand up, almost gently. Without a glance, without a sound, she followed him down the side of the building into her bedroom, out her bedroom and into his bedroom, and into his bed.

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Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	19. Chapter 19 Wish

**The Author Says:** Hey, missed me? (dodges flying shoes and rotten vegetables and fruit with my crazzie ninja skillz). Yeah… thank you so much, those of you who reviewed. Know that I read all the reviews, even if I don't reply to them. And extra thanks and appreciation to those who don't urge me to update quickly. You know who you are, and I want to say thanks so much for understanding that I have a life outside of fanfiction. As much as I wish I could spend entire days just reading and writing fanfics, I do have to work, and let me tell you, work really saps my inspiration and motivation to write. So, enough rambling. More importantly:

I Think I has **FANART**!! Woohoo!! Fanfiction dot net doesn't allow links here, so just go to the deviant art website (google it if you really haven't heard of DevArt) and search TooDarnLazy. It should lead you to the awesome pics by **DiabelGT**. I was smiling like a loon the whole time after viewing the fanart. I'm so honoured! Thank you so very much, **DiabelGT**! This chapter is dedicated to you! Hope you like it :-p

U/L: 27th August 2008.

* * *

**I Think I**

by _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 19 – Wish**

* * *

It had been about a week since they started sleeping together. She gave a dry laugh in her head.

Sleeping together as in occupying the same bed, not as in getting intimate. _She_ – getting intimate with _him_? Laugh out loud.

Or more ridiculous: _he_ getting intimate with _her_. Roll on the floor laughing out loud.

Now to turn the blush off.

Her heart still raced nervously whenever she was next to him, and certain strange sensations in places that had been more-or-less neglected so far had been making themselves evident to her whenever she was by his side in bed.

Ever since the night on the roof when he came to bring her in, either he would end up in her bed or she would end up in his. They never touched each other, though. There was always a clear line of separation between them as they lay on the bed.

They never talked about it, never acknowledged it during the daytime, and she herself would always wait till the last minute before going to him if he didn't come to her. Having to go to him always made her feel a little humiliated, nervous yet excited at the same time. She would just slip into bed next to him. He would be awake, and would scoot over so that they were not touching. She always tried to hold out until he came, though sometimes she gave in to her desire to be next to him and go to him. When, in the middle of the night, the door opened quietly and his shadowy figure glided in, she would also silently move so that she was on the inner side of the bed and he could occupy the outer side. Never was a word spoken or a sound voluntarily made.

The stress of waiting for the other party to give in and the tenseness with which she slept so that she didn't accidentally roll into him (she knew she tended to splay on the bed when sleeping off-missions) was taking a toll on her. If she looked carefully in the mirror she could see faint signs of eye bags. And she was yawning more often than usual in the mornings. Her energy level was a tad lower than normal, although the change was tiny enough so that the others didn't notice.

But even with all these problems, she knew she wanted to be next to him in bed. She wanted that nervous yet pleasurable pounding of her heart, and those feelings (deluded as they may be) of being safe and secure. Of being cared-for, even though that was really laughable, considering who her bed-mate was.

She still wanted those feelings. At least she knew that she was deluding herself. If ever she started to believe that those feelings were real, she knew she'd be in big trouble.

xx

xx

Naruto stared blearily at her team from her tied up position. Ichiro's kunai was mercilessly digging into her throat, though it wasn't hard enough to draw blood. _Yet,_ thought Naruto wryly. _Ichiro's certainly got the ruthlessness down pat._ She sighed.

"Okay, okay, you got me. Let me go now," she said. The three genin smirked at her, and Eriko crowed as Ichiro stepped back and she and Nichiro released the bindings with a snap of their fingers.

"We got you good, sensei! Take that-"

A cold kunai to each of their necks wiped the smirks off their faces and cut Eriko's bragging short. The blonde jounin let out an amused chuckle, her eyes narrowing in malicious glee at them.

"Never ever release your opponent until they're secure in prison or certifiably dead," she informed them dryly, and her clones bonked each genin a good one on the head before poofing out of existence. They scowled at her, and Eriko rubbed her head tenderly.

"That wasn't fair, sensei. We had already won," Ichiro complained darkly. Naruto shot him a 'get-real' look.

"We're _shinobi_, we don't do fair," she retorted. "Your opponent isn't going to roll over and play dead once you've subdued them."

Eriko let out a frustrated noise, not able to come up with a good retort for that. She pouted.

Naruto beamed at them with her hands on her hips. It was certainly nice to be the wise one for a change.

"You seem happy about something, Keimei," came a familiar voice. Naruto turned around, not at all surprised to find Teruo coming towards them. She was pleased to note that her genin didn't seem surprised either, meaning that they had at one point detected his presence. He held out the flowers in his hand to her with a smile.

"Eh? I'm always happy," she replied with a grin, taking the flowers and sniffing them happily. Eriko squealed a loud "Niichan!" and jumped onto her brother while the two Hyuuga just nodded respectfully in his direction.

"I was hoping to take you and your team to lunch, Keimei, seeing as tomorrow I will be leaving on another business trip," Teruo informed her. There was a faint trace of an unusual expression on his face. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but Eriko opened her mouth first.

"Niichan! So soon?" she cried, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting again. Teruo smiled at fondly at her, and tightened his arm around her waist, where he was holding her.

"Sorry, koneko-bo. I will be traveling to Rice Country this time, to meet with the daimyou's assistant, who is in charge of the trade there. We have to obtain his permission to begin trade with Rice Country."

Eriko's lower lip jutted out even more. "You'd better get me something nice to make up for leaving so soon!"

Teruo chuckled. "I always do, Eriko-chan." He turned to Naruto, who was watching them with a small smile. "So, Keimei, how about lunch?"

Who was Naruto to turn down free food? "Sure!"

They walked down to Ichiraku, with Naruto and Eriko providing most of the conversation, as usual. The food was good – it was Ichiraku, after all. Then after lunch Teruo drew Naruto aside. She turned to look at him with a surprised expression.

"Wassup, Teruo?"

"Can we talk in private?" he asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Sure." She turned to her team. "Kids! Back to the training grounds with you, and work on your water-walking exercises!"

Eriko groaned and glared at her, but offered no audible protest. She dragged her feet back to the training area with the Hyuuga beside her.

Satisfied, Naruto turned to Teruo, who nodded appreciatively, and started walking slowly. Naruto walked by his side, twirling the bouquet of flowers in her hand.

"Keimei, I don't quite know how to say this, but I thought it best to speak to you before I leave," he began, glancing at her, and seeing her listening to him, continued. "I discovered certain facts about an Uchiha clan that used to exist in Konoha until some months ago."

Beside him Naruto stiffened imperceptibly. "Oh?"

"Yes. I also learned that there had been only one known Uchiha left, by the name of Uchiha Sasuke, who recently, at the exact same time the Uchiha clan ceased to exist, became Uchiha-Uzumaki Sasuke. Seeing as I know of only one person with the name Uzumaki, I came to a certain interesting conclusion."

"Huh?" The Naruto-the-idiot act.

Teruo sighed and stopped. He turned to the blonde, looking her in the eye. "I found my conclusion supported when I learned of the formation of the new Uchiha-Uzumaki clan. And everyone knows the only way a new clan can be formed is when there is a marriage. So, Mrs. Uchiha-Uzumaki, when were you going to inform us of this interesting fact?"

Naruto stared at him for a long while, then sighed deeply. Her shoulders slumped. She turned and folded her hands behind her head and continued walking, albeit wearily, and Teruo was forced to walk with her.

"My 'marriage' is something of an open secret, if you will. Yes, I am married to Sasuke. But I refrained from mentioning it because of security issues surrounding both Sasuke and myself. I am not at liberty to freely discuss Sasuke's issues, whereas you can surely guess my issues when I remind you that I am a jinchuuriki. The entire marriage could not be kept secret because of the formation of the new clan, but it is otherwise kept under as tight wraps as possible. Not many know of the new clan. May I ask how you found out about this?"

"Marketplace gossip about the last Uchiha being married to a certain blonde who was once a boy," Teruo replied, a trace of amusement in his voice. "The Village Register was also forthcoming."

Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "I swear, it seems nothing can be kept secret these days." She turned to the honey-haired man as they continued walking. "I'd much appreciate it if you didn't spread the news."

Teruo nodded in assent. "Of course, Keimei." He stopped again and looked into her eyes seriously. They had arrived at one of the parks in Konoha, and there was no one around as lunchtime was just over.

"If you are married… why did you lead me on like that?"

Confused cerulean blue eyes looked back. "Huh?"

Teruo elaborated, undaunted. "I have feelings for you, Keimei. And I thought that I had been hinting at them obviously enough. You did nothing to encourage me, but you didn't exactly reject me either."

He couldn't help but believe Naruto when her mouth opened and her eyes widened in honest astonishment.

"What??"

Teruo sighed and turned his eyes away as he ran a hand through his hair. "I have a crush on you, Keimei. And maybe my feelings go deeper than a crush."

Naruto's eyes were miming dinner-plates. "You mean… you mean the flowers and the lunches weren't all just friendship thingies?"

The man looked carefully at the blonde, but couldn't find it in his heart to believe that she would knowingly play with his feelings, or that she was faking her shock. He chuckled tiredly.

"No, Keimei, they weren't just gestures of friendship on my part. I was trying to win your affections."

Naruto was aghast. "I'm so sorry, Teruo! I really, really, really had no idea! I didn't mean to mislead you!"

Teruo smiled fondly at her. "I know, Keimei. I thought I knew you well enough to know that you weren't the sort of woman to toy with a man's feelings."

Naruto tugged at her hair disconsolately, pink tingeing her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Teruo. I really didn't know." She ran her fingers through her hair agitatedly and looked straight at him. "I can't return your feelings."

Teruo chuckled again, a trace of bitterness in his tone. "I kind of figured that when I found out that you were married, Keimei."

Her face coloured from embarrassment. "Oh man…"

"Well… I can't say I regret getting to know you. You're unlike any other woman I've ever met. Truly one of a kind," he told her gently. Naruto glanced at him.

"I don't quite know if that's a compliment or not, coz when people say I'm one of a kind they tend to mean it in a not-so-nice way," she muttered. "But I guess I deserve that."

"No, no! I mean it as a compliment, Keimei!" Teruo hurriedly assured her. "You're truly a special woman, and I wish with all my heart that I had had the opportunity to know you before your marriage, so that I would've had a chance to sweep you off your feet."

Naruto blushed again, and rubbed her cheek awkwardly. "Uh… I… don't know what to say. I don't quite know how to deal with this sort of thing…"

A moment of rather uncomfortable silence passed.

"I certainly regret not being able to buy you flowers or treating you to lunch anymore, because if people found out it would certainly be a slur on your honour," Teruo said softly.

"Uh?"

Teruo smiled lopsidedly. "I can't buy you flowers anymore coz people would think you're cheating on your husband with me," he clarified. Naruto's face showed understanding, then embarrassment.

"Oh. Why didn't you say that earlier?" she asked a little petulantly, then grinned at him. "But lunch isn't a problem if you hold off on the flowers, right? Coz I think you're a really nice guy to have for a friend, and I have fun when you come for lunch with us!"

Teruo's flagging spirits rose a little. "I guess lunch should be fine," he smiled, then turned contemplative. "A question, if I may, Keimei."

"Ask away," was the answer.

He paused as he searched for appropriate words. "It is probably none of my business, but you and your husband don't seem to be on the best of terms," he said carefully. He immediately regretted saying that as Naruto's face went blank. "You don't have to answer me, Keimei; it's really none of my business anyway," he added quickly.

Naruto shook her head and smiled at him – a somewhat sad smile that made him feel for her.

"That's just the way we are. He's been kicking my ass and I've been kicking him back since we were genin – since we were twelve. A love-hate relationship, if you will. Maybe 90 percent hate, 9.9 percent indifference and 0.1 percent affection," she grinned at him.

Teruo observed her carefully, then said, "That may be true in his case, but I can see that you obviously care for him more than just 0.1 percent."

The blonde started in surprise, then shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe."

She stiffened as he stepped in front of her, rather too close to be casual. She forced herself to relax.

"You don't know how much I wish you were a free woman, Keimei – how much heartache I felt when I found out you were married," he murmured, his eyes looking straight into her intense blue circles. She dropped her eyes in embarrassment and looked away.

"Sorry," she murmured back.

Teruo slipped his arms around her and gave her a hug, and his lips brushed her cheek. "If something ever happens, remember that I'm here for you, even as a friend," he whispered into her ear. His soft, warm breath and his closeness made her heart speed up just a little.

"Thanks, Teruo, but I really don't deserve that," she said in low tones. The man shook his head and drew back, although he kept his hands on her shoulders in a fond grip.

"Never say that, Keimei. You are a beautiful person, and I don't mean only physically. You deserve every bit of kindness, every bit of happiness that you get," he told her with conviction in his voice, then gently wiped away a tear that had leaked from the corner of her eye.

Naruto was strangely reminded of the feel on Sasuke's thumb over her lip.

She shook her head to dispel that memory, then gripped his shoulder in thanks and grinned at him. "You're a really nice guy, Teruo. I'm glad I got to know you." She stepped out of his embrace, and he dropped his hands to his sides and smiled at her before smoothly lifting one of her hands to lightly kiss the back of it.

"Same here."

The blonde jounin stared at her hand in his grasp, pink tingeing her cheeks. A short silence passed before she glanced at the sun in the sky, then back at the man, regretfully. "I have to get back to my team. Don't spread what you've learned, okay? And have a safe trip."

She waved at the man and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

xx

xx

Naruto trudged back to the training grounds. Her mind was in a whirl, and she felt terrible for not realizing that Teruo was actually trying to court her. He hadn't been that obvious, but she still should have realized that something other than mere friendship was going on. Sure, she had never been courted before (except that brief night with Gaara, during which she'd been caught by surprise as well), so no one could really blame her if she didn't grasp the meaning of the flowers and lunches, right?

_Argh_. She still felt like giving herself a good beating.

Her genin were obediently on top of the water, though it seemed they were having a mild three-way taijutsu spar. She bit her lip when she caught sight of Eriko. Had the girl known about her brother's feelings? Dread curled in her stomach, but she slapped on her usual cheerful face.

"Sensei!" came Eriko's loud call. The girl was waving happily at her, and Naruto walked slowly towards the water.

"Hey, sorry bout the delay. How're you guys doing? Water-walking gets easier the more you practice it, and it helps your stamina-" Naruto's lecture got cut off when Eriko marched off the water and dragged her by the arm away from the two Hyuuga boys. The younger kunoichi pulled the blonde jounin a short distance into the trees before releasing her arm and whirling around to stare at her with sparkling eyes.

"What did niichan want to talk to you about, Naruto-sensei? I think I can guess!" she said excitedly, her hands flapping up and down. Naruto's eyes widened slightly. Did she know about Sasuke?

Eriko clasped her hands in front of her chest and gave Naruto her version of the puppy-dog eyes. "Did you say yes, sensei? Are you niichan's girlfriend now? Are you gonna be my sister-in-law one day? That would be sooo cool!"

Apparently the genin did not know. Naruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then scrunched up her face into a honestly sad, guilty expression. Eriko immediately stilled.

"I'm sorry, Eriko. …I turned him down."

The girl gripped her sensei's arm. "But why? Niichan liked you a lot! More than I've seen him liking any other girls!" she said insistently, almost pleadingly. Disappointment was clear in her tone. Naruto closed her eyes, trying to push away the guilty feeling. She hung her head.

"I… I don't have feelings for him that way, Eriko. I didn't even realize that there was more than friendship going on with the flowers and lunches."

"But sensei! It was so obvious that niichan liked you! Even Ichiro and Nichiro could see that!" Eriko cried, releasing one hand to slap her own forehead at Naruto's denseness. "Niichan must have been heartbroken when you told him no."

"Yeah I'm a real heartbreaker," Naruto muttered beneath her breath, thinking of Teruo and Gaara. She turned to the girl and opened her eyes to look at her wearily. "I don't like him that way, Eriko. I just think of him as a good friend. We'd have been miserable if we got together when the feelings were only one-sided." It was something she had heard some girls talking about, and it sounded like a good enough excuse to give Eriko, since she didn't want to tell her the truth about Sasuke.

To her surprise, Eriko released her arm entirely and nodded slowly. "You're right, sensei. Although I was really hoping you and niichan would hook up. Niichan's a really good guy!"

"I know, Eriko. He's still a friend."

Eriko sighed loudly. There went her daily live soap opera. Although she still hadn't figured out what was going on with the blonde, Sasuke-san and the other black-haired man who would sometimes pop by and insult Naruto-sensei. Maybe she could start focusing more on that, even if the romance was sorely lacking.

"Well, we can't choose who we fall in love with," Eriko said in a wise, philosophical voice, and gave a nod. Naruto watched her and smiled lopsidedly.

xx

xx

Sasuke watched as the honey-haired kunoichi dragged the dobe by the hand into the trees. The dobe hadn't seemed to have noticed him at the other end of the field, training kenjutsu with Kakashi. He smoothly dodged Kakashi's swipe and brought up his blade in a swipe of his own.

The dobe had looked troubled about something, although it wasn't too evident on her face. She had put on a cheerful face before reaching her genin – one that he knew must be fake since she had had that troubled look earlier. He frowned inwardly. Since when was he able to pick out the more concealed emotions on the dobe's face anyway?

His mind wandered as his body went on autopilot.

He recalled finally giving in to his feelings, and with much self-reproach he had gone up to the roof to find the dobe sitting alone, all curled up. She had looked pathetic, although the faint moonlight had lit up her hair and skin a little making them seemingly glow dimly. Her face had been turned away from him, but by the melancholic aura that surrounded her, he could guess she wasn't exactly smiling. If he didn't know better he would say that she had been brooding.

He had just stood there on the edge of the roof watching her silently. She hadn't moved at all during the time he watched her – a huge feat on her part. Thoughts had been warring in his mind for all the outward silence he projected – thoughts and pride and emotions. He thought he had successfully gotten rid of the emotions a long time ago, but after being around the dobe for a while those pesky, useless things had slowly made their reappearance, like a sore that was beginning to fester.

Pride told him it was beneath him to even think of her, to need her beside him before he could sleep.

Some emotions he did not want to analyze prodded him to just walk that short distance and get her.

Pride told him it was disgraceful to force himself to go to her.

Somehow, pride ended up losing as he remembered how pleasant it was to lie down with her beside him. He was torn over it – he wanted those feelings of security and comfort so badly after having tasted them once, but his conscience would strike back, telling him he was an Avenger, that he had a goal that didn't require those petty needs.

He had decided to give in to what he really wanted for once, and had walked over and hesitantly (though he wouldn't admit it) circled her wrist with his fingers. Her skin felt cool, probably from sitting out there for who knew how long. Shame and embarrassment had begun to rise in him and he had almost given up and gone back to bed when she suddenly uncurled and allowed him to lead her up and away to the room.

His pulse had been racing and he had felt rather nervous as they walked back to bed and eased themselves in, taking care not to touch at all, but he had instantly felt a sense of security and contentment wash over him, although there had been a small urge to touch her that he had been barely able to repress.

Sometimes he went to her at night, but the first time she came to him, he had felt strangely warm and excited, even, and had gladly (though he would never confess to it) moved so she could have some space to lie down. What did it mean when she came to him and it wasn't because of the nightmares? Why had she come?

As expected, he never acknowledged it during the day. If he went to her room, he would be gone before she woke up in the morning. If she came to him, she would be gone as soon as he woke up, or sometimes before. What surprised him was that she never mentioned it either, and went about as if nothing happened at night. But he could sense the awkwardness between them, and the dobe hardly ever looked him in the eye anymore. To his immense chagrin he found that he disliked it.

"That's enough for today, Sasuke. It's obvious your head isn't in it," Kakashi's mildly disapproving voice cut through his thoughts. Sasuke sheathed his chokuto and glared at the jounin, who merely slid his hitai-ate back over his Sharingan eye, gave him a two-fingered wave and disappeared.

The brunet squeezed his eyes shut for a second as he deactivated the Sharingan, before opening them and placidly making his way towards the two Hyuuga genin on the water. It just so happened that his path brought him near to where the dobe and the little kunoichi had vanished into the trees. No, he wasn't the least bit curious about why the dobe had been upset, and why the kunoichi had been so excited. He didn't care at all; he was just searching for a good spot to meditate since Kakashi decided to cut their training short.

He sensed the dobe and the kunoichi re-emerging, so he stopped short. Two seconds later, the two females walked out from the trees.

"Sasuke!" the dobe looked a little stunned to see him. The younger girl looked up curiously. Sasuke merely glanced at the dobe, who was avoiding his eyes, before circling to the side of them and leaped into the trees.

"Pardon me for saying it, but your relative isn't a very nice person, sensei," the girl remarked as they walked towards the water. Sasuke settled himself in the tree in a comfortable position.

"He's been through a lot of shit, Eriko," the dobe replied tiredly. The dobe standing up for him?

"Still, he doesn't have to be that cold, right? Especially to you! I mean, you're his relative!" the girl insisted, her voice getting softer as they moved further away from the brunet in the trees.

"…I know, Eriko. But you can't force someone to act the way you wish they did." The dobe's voice sounded sad.

"Yeah… or else niichan would be a very happy man right now, wouldn't he?" the girl's voice was almost a whisper. Sasuke couldn't catch the dobe's reply, but he saw her shoulders slump downwards before straightening again as she addressed her team and they began sparring.

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**The Author has More to Say:** Hah! All you pervs out there, what were you thinking? ;-) ;-) wakakakaka!

Okay, some not so good news. No, I won't be giving up this fic. Are you nuts? ;-) Anyways. ITI is going on a semi-hiatus, coz I want to focus on my other active fic, In That Moment. I have only a few more chapters to go for ITM, and I want to finish it so that I will be able to focus entirely on ITI. This doesn't mean that I won't be writing ITI at all – just when I feel like it. I might update, but no promises. You should be happy, coz even though you might have to wait a bit (understatement), after I'm done with ITM I'll definitely try to finish ITI ASAP. Not much of a comfort, eh? hahaha.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	20. Chapter 20 Next Up

**The Author Says:** It has been soooo looooonnng! I wonder whether anyone still wants to read this, heheh. Well, I'm back. And the story is **off its semi-hiatus**, though I won't promise regular updates. Updates, yes, but I cannot promise weekly or fortnightly or anything like that. Sowee… Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. I may not have replied to all of them, but be assured that I do read every single one. Thank you!

Now, for those who don't know… I Think I has fanfiction! Woohoo! **Phoenix Soar**, a brilliant fellow-author here on FFnet has written a 'what-if' oneshot based on ITI. It's not a sequel or side-story. You really must read it! I'm so honoured that she'd dedicate it to me –blushes- The story's wonderful, and the emotions and characterizations are so well fleshed out. READ IT! and check out her other stories while you're at it! ;-)

This chapter is dedicated to **ReenaYuki-Hime** for her wonderful drawing of Keimei. It's really lovely, check it out on DeviantArt. Just type TooDarnLazy into the search box and you should see it. **Kihomi-chan** came up with lovely fanart, too! Check out Keimei in her wedding kimono! It's also on DevArt. But her dedication comes a bit later ;-) Thank you, girls! You have no idea how encouraged I am. Arigatou gozaimasu!

U/L: 20th March 2009.

* * *

**I Think I**

By _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 20 – Next Up

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**

"Bye sensei!" Eriko waved to the blonde jounin before disappearing down the road.

Naruto waved back before turning around with a sigh. Three days had passed since Teruo's little confession, and while Eriko had admitted that she had been disappointed at Naruto's refusal of her niichan, she had come to terms with it rather quickly. Naruto, on the other hand, had been mortified when Eriko blurted out that her parents had been rather disappointed as well to learn of her rejection of their son. She scrunched up her face as she walked towards the apartment in the orange sunset light. She wished she could explain why she had to let him down like that – Mr. and Mrs. Tanake were nice people whom she quite liked, and they deserved the truth, but Naruto couldn't quite risk it yet. Especially since she was sure this 'marriage' wouldn't last. The fewer people who knew of it, the less she had to explain when it was all over.

She ran a hand through her hair and absently realized her hair was getting longer. She lifted one hand to rub at her temples. What on earth did she have that made both Teruo and Gaara like her? Was she producing some pheromones or something? She sort of remembered Shino mentioning something about female bugs giving off pheromones to attract male bugs, and that the Aburame exploited that fact when it came to using their bugs for tracking. She brought her hand down and sniffed at it curiously.

Nope. Nothing she could smell that was unusual, even with her enhanced senses.

"Hey Naru-chan."

"Hey Sai. I told you not to call me that," she replied a little irritably, having sensed his approach a while back. She turned to look at him, and stopped in surprise.

"What's with the clothes, Sai?" she asked curiously.

The brunet was clad in a formal silk shirt and slacks, something Naruto had never seen him dressed in. He looked at her and smiled, keeping his hands behind his back.

"I read about it in a book, Naru-chan," he said, but didn't elaborate. Naruto scowled at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that, Sai." She ran a hand through her hair. "When did you come back from your mission? Couldn't have been today, since you're all dressed up."

Sai shook his head. "No, I got back two days ago and spent some time in the library looking for an explanation as to certain physiological changes I experienced."

Naruto blinked at him. "Physiological changes…?" she asked slowly, and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. My heart tended to speed up and my palms sometimes became a little sweaty when I was around someone. I tended to feel nervous and sometimes shy near that person – like there were things flying around in my abdomen, and when I wasn't around that person I found myself thinking of that person often, wanting to be near that person and hoping that person was thinking of me."

Naruto suppressed a jolt of realization. _She_ seemed to have the same symptoms, and in her case, the person was Sasuke.

"Oh? And what did you find out? Coz I kinda have the same symptoms, I think," she said in an interested voice.

The brunet looked at her in surprise, and, was that hope?

"I told the librarian what I was going through, and she directed me to the self-help section, and gave me several books on love," he said, and Naruto started to feel uneasy. Sai, unaware of the blonde's feelings, continued. "I spent the past two days reading through those books. Generally, I came to the conclusion that these changes I experienced, and the strange emotions I felt were what the books called a crush, or being in love."

_In love…?_ Naruto asked herself in her mind shakily. _In _love_??_

Outwardly, she grinned at Sai. "Oo! Sai's in love!! Who's the lucky girl? I bet you're going to meet her – all dressed up like this!" she said teasingly, and Sai actually flushed faintly – the first time she ever saw Sai turn red. She grinned at him and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. "And I bet you've got a bunch of flowers behind your back for the love of your life!"

Sai brought the bouquet of flowers out from behind his back, and with a smile, offered them to Naruto, who took them and closed her eyes as she inhaled the scent of the dozen red roses.

"Your crush is one heck of a lucky girl, Sai," she commented with a smile, brandishing the roses back to him. He made no move to take them back, however; merely putting his hands behind his back and looking at her with an unusual expression.

"The books said that flowers and dates are two ways to win the lady's heart," he said. Naruto nodded and grinned.

"Oh yeah. Most girls go crazy over flowers and romantic dates. I heard chocolates and jewelry do the trick as well," she said, and held the flowers back to him again, but grew alarmed when he shook his head and almost gently pushed them back to her.

"They are for you, Naru-chan," he told her, and her eyes widened, and her heart sank to the bottom of her feet.

"S-sai? Do you mean what I think you mean?" she asked unsteadily, and the hand that was holding out the roses faltered and fell back to her side. She nearly took a step back as he took a step forward and lifted one of her hands in his, like Teruo had done three days ago.

"Sai?"

He gave her the closest thing to a genuine smile she had ever seen on his face. "I think of you almost all the time, Naru-chan. My pulse races when I'm near you, and I find myself wanting to be near you all the time. I end up drawing pictures of you when your face crosses my mind," he said. "The books I read all said that this means I'm in love with you."

Naruto felt like a jerk. She felt like crying. _Not again…_

"Sai… Sai…" she said softly, and her hand slipped out of his as she crouched down and covered her face with her hands. The roses were put carefully on the ground.

"Naru-chan?" Sai's voice sounded a little concerned. "Are you alright?"

She raised her head and rubbed her temples hard, then unexpectedly, she started sniffing at her hands, and even raised one arm to sniff at her armpit.

"Naru-chan?" Sai asked more forcefully, more than a little concerned now. She looked up at him.

"What is it?" she demanded. "Do I smell funny? Do I give out pheromones? Am I leaking some magnetic chakra? Is it some jutsu gone wrong? Just what is it that makes people think they're in love with me?" _And why isn't the person that _I_ think about all the time affected?_

"Naru-chan?" Sai said questioningly for the third time, and squatted down in front of her with his hands on his knees.

_I don't want to see another disappointed face – it eats at my heart! But better to get them out of their misguided feelings now before they realize that no one could possibly fall in love with _me_. _

"Sai… I'm sorry… but I don't feel that way towards you," Naruto said, and closed her eyes, trying to will away the sad feeling in her heart. "And besides, I'm… married… to Sasuke now, it wouldn't be proper for me to return your feelings."

"I… see…" Sai's voice was low and disappointed. "I had assumed that, given the way Sasuke-kun treated you, this marriage of yours was merely a way to get him to remain in the village – by tying you to him, Sasuke-kun could make use of Itachi-san's interest in you to lure him out in order to avenge his clan."

Naruto stiffened. Sai had no idea how he nailed the entire scheme right on the head. She still felt like crying, though. And the more she let the feeling take over her, the more she felt that it wasn't just her feeling terrible about disappointing Sai. It was because she now knew for sure what she felt towards Sasuke, what she had guessed the direction her feelings began to take of late, and most importantly, because she knew he would never consider her in that light.

_So this is how Gaara and Teruo felt, and how Sai feels… like shit. _

"I'm sorry Sai… I really feel terrible for doing this to you," she said softly, brokenly. "But better you forget about me now than you realize your mistake – no one could possibly love a bakemono like me."

Sai cocked his head to the side. "Bakemono?" he said questioningly. "You are no bakemono, Naru-chan."

Naruto only smiled at him in a wearily indulgent way, like an adult to a child who is too young to understand what she is trying to tell him.

"My chest hurts, here," Sai said, after a pause. He lifted one hand to touch where his heart was, and his voice was almost curious. "Not a physical pain, but it still hurts."

The blonde jounin leaned back on her haunches and looked at him with her head tilted to the side, a sad smile on her face. "It's because of sadness and disappointment. My heart hurts too, Sai, because I hurt yours, and because of something else."

"Why do we have emotions, then?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically.

Naruto inhaled deeply. "You mean why is it that we can feel love?" she asked. "I think it's because when you find the right person, and when that person is in love with you too, it's probably a wonderful thing. It has to be, right? Or else, why'd people want to get married? I mean, just look at Iruka-tousan and Ayame-neechan, and Shika and Temari… but until you find that right person, it's probably gonna suck, I guess."

Sai digested this quietly. "Then why did you marry Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun? You said people get married when they're in love with each other, but Sasuke-kun doesn't seem to be in love with you."

Naruto's heart gave a painful lurch at this truth.

"It was an arranged marriage, so to speak. But as long as someone is married, they're not supposed to feel for anyone else, no matter what kind of marriage they're in," she blustered, hoping that Sai would drop the somewhat painful topic. No such luck.

"Do you love Sasuke-kun, then, Naruto-kun?" came the dreaded question. One that forced Naruto to really look at her feelings and put a name to them, one she had fervently hoped to avoid doing so that she could continue deluding herself about what she felt and push those feelings aside and away.

She hung her head, letting her blonde fringe cover her eyes and half her face, leaving the other half in shadows due to the darkness of the evening, since the sun had already set and the streetlights were starting to come on.

"I think I… I think I love him," came the answer from a constricted throat. It was almost a whisper. "I want to be near him. My heart speeds up when I'm next to him, when I look at him and see how handsome he is. I think of him and hope that he stays safe, and want to cook for him, comfort him when he has nightmares, and make him smile, and make him happy, and make him content, even though it hurts to know he will continue to hate me and won't care about me. Does it mean that I'm in love with him?"

"According to what I read, it means you are in love with Sasuke-kun," came Sai's verdict after a pause. Naruto buried her head in her knees and her shoulders heaved in a dry sob.

"I'm sorry, Sai. I'm really sorry to make your heart hurt like this. Believe me when I say I know the feeling," her voice was muffled, but even Sai could detect the sincerity and sadness in it. Sai stared at her with his usual emotionless face for a while.

"I don't know what to do now, Naruto-kun. The books did not mention what to do if this happened."

Naruto still didn't raise her head, but she responded after a while. "Just… go home and forget about feeling this way, Sai. I think it should disappear after a while. We'll still be friends, okay?"

"Am I just to leave you here, Naruto-kun? Will you be alright?"

She chuckled sadly with her face buried in her knees. "Don't ever do this to any girl other than me, Sai. But go home. I'll be alright, really. I just need some time alone."

Darn Sai and his questions. "Why shouldn't I do this to any girl but you?"

"Because I'm not a normal girl. Please, Sai. I need to be alone right now. I'm really sorry."

The street was still, except for the sound of Sai's clothes rustling as he stood. "Okay then, Naruto-kun. Oyasuminasai."

The sound of his footsteps faded into the early night, and Naruto was left alone, crouched down and hunched over in the shadows, with a dozen red roses for company.

* * *

**The Author has More to Say:** Yup, this chapter is short. I think it contains all it needs to, so I stopped here :-) So, Teruo's out of the picture and now Sai's out of the way, too. Nihihihi!! ;-)

To a certain reviewer calling himself/herself/itself (though I think it's a he) **DD**, I read your review and had a long reply, but I think this is all I'll say: next time please grow a set of balls, or at least some guts, and leave a signed review, so that I don't have to waste chapter space by having to include a reply to your review. Have a nice day.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	21. Chapter 21 Nominations

**The Author Says:** This is the second chapter I've posted today. Go back and read Chapter 20 first if you haven't done so yet :-)

Huh. I've somehow brought ITI and ITM neck to neck in terms of chapters. Heheh.

U/L: 20th March 2009.

* * *

**I Think I**

By _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 21 – Nominations

* * *

**

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Sasuke almost look up, but he stopped himself from doing that. Instead, he tried to continue focusing on the jutsu scroll he was reading as he sat on the sofa in the living room, and let his displeasure radiate from him.

"Tadaima," the dobe's voice sounded tired and depressed. She gasped. "Oh no! It's my turn to cook, isn't it? Sumimasen, Sasuke! I'll go start now!"

Sounds of her footsteps receded to the kitchen where sounds of washing, chopping and pot banging started. Sasuke finally raised his head and sniffed the air delicately. There was a new scent in the air; one that arrived together with the dobe… it smelled like… roses. Outwardly Sasuke's face was emotionless, but inwardly he frowned. What was the dobe doing with roses? Had someone _given_ them to her? Was it that civilian man who was always giving her flowers? He hadn't quite had the gall to give her _roses_ yet, but had he done it today?

_Am I jealous?_

He bit his lip and moved his eyes away from the spot that he had been staring at. He… was… jealous. He was _jealous_, of someone giving flowers to the dobe. Of someone trying to win her affection. He snorted – _why would anyone want the dobe? The idiot – it isn't like she's so beautiful._ But he couldn't convince himself that he actually believed what he was saying.

He folded his arms across his chest and fisted his fingers, hard. He didn't feel anything towards the dobe at all, right? _Right?_

"Dinner's ready!" called the dobe from the kitchen door behind him. Sasuke let her wait for a minute or so before getting up and stalking to the kitchen. The first thing he saw was the dobe sitting at her usual place with her hair falling across her forehead. Her posture was a tired one – her shoulders were slumped and her face was in her hands, which were supported by her elbows on the table. The second thing he noticed was the bouquet of red roses – a dozen of them – on the kitchen counter away from where they cooked. He looked back to the table to see that there wasn't a flower in the middle of the table this time, like the dobe used to do when she brought back flowers. Something was up.

He slid into his seat and took up his chopsticks, murmuring a quiet "Itadakimasu," before starting to eat. The fare today was simple; something that the dobe could prepare in a relatively short time.

The sound of his voice seemed to startle her out of whatever thoughts she was in, and she quickly lifted her chopsticks, said "Itadakimasu," maybe a tad more loudly than usual, and ate at a hastened speed.

As he ate more sedately, he peered discreetly at her, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized that she was looking at him. He locked gazes with her intense, beautiful cerulean blue eyes that were partially obscured by her fringe, and felt his heart start beating faster. Then she quickly averted her eyes with an almost heartbroken look on her face that disappeared before he could confirm it, and a sheepish expression spread over her features.

"Heheh, sorry bout today, Sasuke. Got caught up with something unexpected. Don't worry, I don't think it will be happening again," she said, and smiled sheepishly as she looked at him, or rather, at a spot just past his head.

Something unexpected? Sasuke swallowed down a scowl, and said coldly, "I suppose receiving flowers counts as something 'unexpected'." His tone was almost sneering, and he expected her to snap back at him, but instead she seemed to shrink into herself even more, although her face registered mild surprise.

"Those?" her eyebrow rose. "Oh, Sai gave them to m… I mean, I was talking to Sai earlier. Hadn't seen him in quite a while – he just got back from his mission two days ago. He's a nice guy, even if a little emotionally-challenged. Hope he can find a nice girl to settle down with; he deserves that much."

Sai? The _replacement_? What was _he_ doing giving flowers to the dobe?

"Finished!" the blonde declared, grinning, and quickly got up to wash her dishes, and left the kitchen quickly. The roses were left behind on the counter. Sasuke glared venomously at them.

Xx

Xx

Feeling the usual mix of foolishness, indignity and longing, Sasuke quietly pushed open the door to the dobe's room. Her room was unusually dark this time. Usually, the curtain would be partly open to admit some moonlight, but this time it was drawn tightly across the window. Sasuke picked his way to her bed by memory, trying to get his pulse back to normal. They had been climbing into each other's bed the last week or so, but every time he went to her or she came to him he would still experience that rush and excitement that he had to force himself to will down.

He had waited for quite a while tonight, and had drifted off into a short, restless sleep before waking up and deciding to go to her. This time, she was already lying near the wall with her head turned to it, leaving his usual space free for him. He slid under the blanket and released a silent sigh of near-contentment, and felt his eyelids start drooping comfortably.

While he was in that state halfway between sleep and wakefulness, he felt her fidget a few times before sitting up and leaning against the headboard. He forced himself to crack open the eye nearest to her form, and as he squinted, he could make out that she was sitting with her knees curled up to her chest, her arms circling her legs and her head buried in her knees. She had never done that before, for as long as they shared beds.

She stayed that way until he fell asleep without even realizing it.

Xx

Xx

Kakashi straightened from his taijutsu pose, and Sasuke glared at him.

"Five-minute break, Sasuke. I need to talk to your wife." With that, the jounin shunshin-ed to where the blonde was standing with her genin on top of the stream that meandered past the training grounds. It was evening, and the dobe and her genin had arrived not ten minutes ago, presumably after a mission. Sasuke had noticed Kakashi's attention occasionally straying over to the dobe even as he kept up with Sasuke's attacks. It wasn't a particularly spectacular feat on Kakashi's part, since Sasuke's attention had strayed over to the dobe as well.

The brunet watched as Kakashi appeared next to the blonde. He couldn't see if Kakashi had said anything because of the mask, but it was obvious that he had said something, because the dobe talked to her genin for a few seconds, to which they nodded back at her, then she and the silver-haired man walked a distance away into the trees surrounding the open area of the training grounds.

Something was definitely up with the dobe. She never came to him now (to his faint disappointment), but she always had his space empty for him, and she was always sitting up in bed after she thought Sasuke had fallen asleep. The next day, however, she was always as cheerful as usual, grinning at everything. Sasuke could see that her smiles never reached her eyes, that there were faint dark circles under her eyes, and that there was always something sad in her eyes when he caught her looking at him. He could see all that only because he knew she wasn't sleeping at night, and because he was looking for them. Her genin didn't seem to suspect anything, and it looked like no one else she came in contact with had spoken to her about it.

Kakashi somehow noticed something during the three days that Sasuke had caught her staying up nights, even though her mask was so good even he needed to concentrate hard to see past it. Pretty observant for a one-eyed man.

After waiting for a few minutes that seemed like an hour, Sasuke glared at nothing in particular and stalked off in towards the trees where the two were, so that he could retrieve Kakashi, or so he told himself. He approached the duo quietly, although he didn't repress his chakra too much to indicate that he wasn't there to eavesdrop on them. A good excuse, ne?

"You're as stubborn as your father," Kakashi sighed, his nose buried in his blue-covered smut. "Sensei never did talk to us willingly when there was something on his mind."

The dobe scuffed her foot into the fallen leaves on the grass. Her back was to him, so he couldn't see her expression, but he could see that her hair had gotten longer than when he last actually observed it carefully.

"I'll be fine, Sensei. I always am." From her tone, Sasuke could imagine her grinning up at the other jounin. "It's just a silly thing, and I'm getting over it already. Don't worry."

Kakashi observed her intently for a second before crossing his arms and leaning against a tree. "Hmm."

The dobe's shoulders slumped before straightening, and she ran both her hands through her hair. "He's all yours, Sasuke."

Without turning around she walked off towards her genin, and Kakashi pushed himself off the tree and walked to where the brunet was to some extent concealed in the trees.

"I'm sure you've noticed that Naruto hasn't quite been herself lately," Kakashi commented. Sasuke could agree with him only because he caught her sitting through the nights, though he only acknowledged that comment with an indifferent "Hn."

The jounin seemed to contemplate something for a while as he flipped a page in his book, but didn't say anything further, and followed leisurely behind Sasuke as they walked back to their corner of the training ground.

Xx

Xx

She hadn't been sitting up late at night anymore, and last night she had actually came to his room for a change. Sasuke watched her discreetly as she lay on her back on the grass, surrounded by her genin. They were supposedly resting after a C-rank mission. The dobe had a dreamy look on her face as she watched the clouds.

Sasuke polished his chokuto quietly a short distance away from them. The sound of a hawk's cry made Naruto perk and sit up.

"That time already?" she asked herself, as the genin kunoichi stared confusedly at her. She ignored the curious looks she was receiving and counted something on her fingers as she muttered to herself. As she touched the last finger she held up, her eyes lit up and her face split into a huge grin – the happiest Sasuke had seen her in a while.

"Suna!" she cried. "It's Suna this time! Woohoo!" Saying that, she jumped up energetically and did a ridiculous happy-dance. "Today's schedule is cancelled, I gotta go see obaachan!" And she sprinted off in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

The kunoichi sat up. "What got into her?" she asked, looking in the direction Naruto had sped off in.

One of the Hyuuga boys answered with a snort, "Nothing's gotten into her. She's Keimei-sensei."

_Yeah, that's Naruto alright. But what had Suna to do with her sudden exhilaration?_ Wondered Sasuke, and his expression darkened when he realized Gaara was in Suna. He got up and stalked off, determined to find the silver-haired pervert and find out what was going on.

Xx

Xx

To Sasuke's frustration, he couldn't find Kakashi anywhere yesterday, so he had headed home, since it had been almost evening by the time he gave up on locating Kakashi. The dobe had arrived maybe an hour after he had, and had been grinning widely. She had, and still was, in better spirits than he had seen her so far. She had been whistling tunelessly to herself while preparing dinner, and during dinner, she had broken into huge grins every few minutes or so for no apparent reason.

And it had irked Sasuke. Which was why he was now trying to meditate at a location that was conveniently near where the dobe had gathered her team.

The dobe was practically bouncing in place. "Oi, oi! I've got something really great for you guys!"

The genin kunoichi seemed to have contracted the dobe's enthusiasm. "Really, sensei? What is it? What is it?"

The dobe grinned so wide it was a miracle her face didn't split into half. She pulled out a few pieces of paper from her rear weapons pouch and waved them excitedly. One of the Hyuuga perked up, and the other raised an eyebrow.

"Nominations!" the dobe blurted out. "For the chuunin selection exams!"

The genin kunoichi let out a surprised sound, and the Hyuuga looked interested.

"I'm nominating you for the chuunin exams, these are the forms. If you wanna go for it, all you have to do is fill them up and return them to me when we meet up tomorrow. No pressure, okay? The decision is entirely up to you. Go for it only if you really want to," the blonde said, waving a hand around as she spoke.

The genin kunoichi waved a hand. "What will the exams be like, Naruto-sensei?"

A couple of mischievous chuckles were heard. "Na-ah! I can't tell you anything. But what I can say is that I wouldn't have nominated you guys unless I was confident of your abilities. If I didn't think you guys were ready, I wouldn't have nominated you, even though the exams are in Suna this time."

"Suna?" the genin kunoichi drawled slowly. "What's so special about Suna…" She brightened and snapped her fingers. "Now I remember – your best friend is in Suna, right? The one who took you on a date?"

Sasuke felt like scowling when he saw the dobe splutter. The genin girl squealed.

"Eriko! Shush!" the blonde flapped a hand at the girl, who grinned at her. "And none of your business, you two!" she added, as one of the Hyuuga opened his mouth to say something. "Back to the subject! Think about the exams and decide tonight, and I'll see you guys tomorrow, kay? Now go! Shoo, shoo!" she made shooing motions at the genin and laughed.

The genin left the training ground, and the blonde hummed to herself as she trailed behind them at a more languid pace. Sasuke abandoned his meditation and stalked swiftly to her side.

"Hmm?" the blonde turned to him, as if mildly surprised to see him there. He noted she had a slight dreamy look to her face. "Oh, hey, Sasuke. I'm going to get a few things I'll need for going to Suna. You want something specific for dinner? I can get it on the way."

His expression turned cold. "What makes you think all your genin are going to enter the exams?"

Her cheerfulness dropped a little. "I know them better than you. I think they're ready, and I think they'd want to go for it." She turned to him, expression searching. "Why do you ask?"

He didn't reply, and she narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't question him further. Sasuke noticed from the corner of his eye that her cheerfulness returned.

"Can't wait to see Gaara again!" she exclaimed, mainly to herself, and grinned. "It's been almost six months, I think. Heheh. I'm really looking forward to meeting him. And Kujira-sensei, too! Hmmm, maybe I should bring them something from Konoha… hey, Sasuke," she turned to the man beside her," What do you think I should get for them?"

Sasuke felt something stirring in him that he didn't want to analyze. Instead, he glared coldly at her and walked ahead, leaving her staring confusedly at his back. He heard her mutter loudly, "What's gotten into him? Bastard."

Xx

Xx

"Obaachan!" came the loud cry.

At her desk, Tsunade rubbed her temples and muttered, "How many times have I told her…"

A few seconds later, the door banged open and Naruto smoothly evaded a rather sharp-looking letter-opener that was hurled her way. She grinned widely at the older blonde.

"We're going to Suna!" she exclaimed excitedly. "My whole team agreed, so we're going to Suna!"

A faint, fond smile curved Tsunade's lips for a few seconds. "Alright, brat. Calm down."

Naruto remained grinning as she bounced excitedly in one spot before finally noticing the other two shinobi in the office.

"Eh? Sasuke? Kaka-sensei? what are you guys doing here?" she asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at them. Kakashi-sensei's nose was buried in his book of smut, so he greeted her with his usual half-hearted wave. Sasuke's face was blank, and he merely folded his arms without acknowledging her. Naruto scowled and stuck out her tongue at him, then turned to the Hokage.

"What are they doing here, Tsunade-obaachan?" she asked, quirking her head to one side. Tsunade exhaled loudly.

"Sasuke came to see me earlier today, together with Kakashi. He expressed his concerns about you leaving the village without him, meaning that there would be a chance Akatsuki might get to you before he can get to Itachi," Tsunade explained, rolling her eyes a little. Naruto scowled.

"What, so he wants to come along to Suna?" she asked, turning to scowl at Sasuke, who stared back with his usual expressionless face.

Tsunade sighed. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I had anticipated this, and informed the Kazekage of the possibility that Sasuke might have to tag along if your team were to sign up for the exams. The Kazekage has replied to say that he understands the situation, and is willing to tolerate the presence of your husband in Suna for the duration of the exams. Don't look at me like that," Tsunade added at Naruto's expression, "Those were his words, not mine."

Naruto crossed her arms and scowled. "And I suppose my usual escorts will be coming along?" she asked a little sullenly.

"Yes. Only as far as Suna's gates, though. The Kazekage says he willingly takes responsibility for your safety during your stay, and will use all means necessary to keep you safe." Tsunade frowned a little, then sighed before continuing. "Your usual escorts will accompany you back after the exams. The Kazekage even offered to send Suna escorts for your journey to and from Suna, but I believe our own ANBU are enough. It was very accommodating of him to suggest it, though."

Naruto nodded her head with a small smile. "Yeah, Gaara's sweet like that," she said, ignoring the incredulous look Tsunade shot her at her choice of words, and oblivious to the way Sasuke's expression turned frigid, although it was not lost on the two older ninja.

"Sasuke, your escorts will not be accompanying you to Suna. However, if you try to run away during the journey or the stay at Suna, I will not hesitate to activate your seal and kill you the moment I receive confirmation of your desertion. And let me remind you that no matter where you might try to run to, the seal will still kill you upon activation." Tsunade's face and voice were dead serious.

Honestly, Sasuke hadn't even thought about trying to escape.

"Whatever. As long as I actually get to go to Suna and see Gaara!" Naruto grinned widely.

Sasuke's expression became positively frosty, and with a terse nod in the Hokage's direction, he strode out of the room. Kakashi sighed and followed, not taking his eyes off the book. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What's gotten into him?" she mused aloud. "First yesterday at the training ground, and now again. I'm the male-turned-female, but he seems to be the one PMS-ing."

Tsunade sighed again. Was Naruto really that dense? "Keimei… you're more happy than I've seen you be in a long time, and it's because you're going to see Gaara, right?"

Naruto nodded. Her face still registered confusion. "Yeah, I'm really looking forward to see him again."

Tsunade made an exasperated noise. "And I'm sure you've been mentioning seeing the Kazekage again quite often, right?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with Sasuke PMS-ing…" her face cleared, then showed incredulity. "Wait. Are you trying to say he's acting all touchy coz he's _jealous_?"

Tsunade smirked. "Such a clever girl you are, Keimei."

Naruto scowled at the veiled insult to her intelligence. "That's crazy. Why on earth would Sasuke be jealous of me getting to see Gaara? He doesn't care; why should he be _jealous_?"

Tsunade shot her a deadpan look, and Naruto raised an eyebrow slowly, before laughing incredulously.

"Are you suggesting he really is jealous? Because he cares? That's ridiculous, Tsunade-obaachan. Sasuke doesn't care – all he wants is Itachi-bait."

The older blonde smiled indulgently at her. "You never know, Keimei. You've changed so many people – who knows? You just might change Sasuke, too."

Naruto's face became blank, and she laughed a tinge bitterly. "That would be the day, obaachan. I've tried so hard, but I couldn't bring him back. I've tried to reason with him years ago at the Valley of the End, but he wouldn't listen. And now he's here just because I'm conveniently attracting Itachi's attention. I doubt he'd change." She looked to the floor, so that her bangs were shadowing her eyes. "He's the one person who always seems out of my reach. But I'm happy as long as he's safe."

Tsunade looked sharply at her. "What's gotten into you? The Naruto I know doesn't give up."

Naruto just exhaled loudly and looked at Tsunade with weary eyes, then grinned brightly as she changed the topic. "I wanna bring Gaara and Kujira-sensei something from Konoha! What do you suggest, obaachan? I was thinking some of those dango that seem to be so popular. Or maybe those tarts that Eriko likes so much."

The older blonde folded her arms under her bust and gave Naruto a searching stare, but decided to humour Naruto's reluctance to continue the discussion. She answered, "I suppose the tarts would be fine. I hear they're really quite good."

Naruto brightened. "Okay! I'd better go get some today, since we'll be leaving tomorrow. See you in about a month and a half, Tsunade-obaachan!" She bounced out of the office, only to almost bang into someone at the corner of the corridor.

The aged female elder wrinkled her nose at the blonde.

"Ah, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. I have been meaning to talk to you for quite a while now."

Naruto eyed the old lady with distaste. "Don't mean to be rude, but I've to go find my genin. I'll see you some other time, baabaa." She started to walk off, but the lady continued talking.

"Just a minute or two of your time, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. How is your marriage? It doesn't seem to be very productive so far," the elder said, with a pointed glance at Naruto's midsection. The blonde's expression darkened in embarrassment and anger.

"None of your business, baabaa," she retorted bitingly.

The old lady smirked. "Oh, but it is. I'm sure you remember the details of our deal, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. Sharingan babies in return for keeping your precious friend out of prison."

Naruto glared heatedly at her. "I know the conditions. My memory is fine, since I'm still _young_."

The old lady glared at her for that jab, then smirked. "Exactly. Since you are still young, you should have no problems in upholding your end of the deal, yes? Are you two even sleeping together?"

Contempt leaked into Naruto's glare and her voice was icy. "None of your business, baabaa, but we are sleeping together." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it would be enough to pacify the old bat. For now. "These things take time."

The old lady nodded indulgently. "Yes, they do. As long as you're trying, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. I expect to see results soon. We won't wait forever."

She calmly took her eyes off Naruto and walked away. Naruto was left clenching her fists angrily, and stomped off, only to almost bang into someone else as she rounded the next corner.

"Sorry!—Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired medic nin looked a little stunned and flustered at the same time, and was gripping a rather thick book to her chest. She avoided Naruto's eyes. Naruto felt the awkwardness, and shuffled self-consciously.

"Eh…heheh. Well, it's good to see you're fine. I'm fine, and the bastard's fine, Kakashi-sensei and Sai are probably fine…" Naruto rambled, scratching the back of her head, and started to move around her former teammate. "I'll see you around, Sakura-chan."

She managed to give the medic a grin, and was walking off when a hand latched onto her wrist. She was jerked back a little and turned around in surprise. "Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto… I…" Sakura bit her lip and released her hold on Naruto's wrist, then tried to look the blonde in the eye, but could only hold the eye-contact for a few seconds before she looked away. "I overheard your conversation with Koharu-sama."

Naruto winced a little. "Oh… Uh…"

"I guess what you told me was true all along," Sakura continued softly, the words coming out hesitantly and a little grudgingly. "That you married Sasuke as part of a mission. Koharu-sama mentioned that your marriage was keeping Sasuke out of prison… in return for Sharingan babies."

Naruto winced again. "Uh, yeah… that old hag's the one who came up with the whole crazy idea." Then her eyes widened as she remembered the last part of the conversation. "Uh, Sakura-chan, about Sasuke and me s-sleeping together – it isn't what it sounds like! I was just trying to get the hag off my back, and…"

Sakura cut her off. "Naruto." Her arms tightened around the book she was hugging to her chest. "…good luck to your team in Suna, ne? And don't let Sasuke-kun piss you off too much."

Blue eyes widened. A small smile stretched Naruto's lips at Sakura-chan's slight, though obvious, gesture of reconciliation. The smile widened into a grin. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! My team's gonna kick so much ass!"

A tentative smile appeared on Sakura-chan's face, and her green eyes flickered with repressed emotion. "See you when you return, then, Naruto."

The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! We'll all go for ramen!"

Sakura laughed softly and started to walk away. "Yeah, we will. Stay safe, Naruto."

Naruto grinned widely and waved at Sakura-chan's retreating back. "Bye, Sakura-chan!"

The pink-haired medic lifted a hand in acknowledgement without turning around. Naruto grinned, and turned on her heel back to the direction she had been going in, feeling a large burden slip off her shoulders. In no time, she and Sakura-chan would be friends again. In no time at all.

* * *

**The Author has More to Say:** I can't remember who it was who asked in a review whether Gaara would make a reappearance… well, now you know! ;-) And Sakura's getting over her bitch episode, too :-)

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	22. Chapter 22 Suna

**The Author Says:** Hey guys! I know it's been a hecka long time, but I've been really, really busy. I'm really trying to finish writing ITI, but it's hard going, what with lack of time and inspiration. Motivation isn't so much a problem, believe me. All I have to do is think of all of you and I have all the motivation I need. Sigh… Oh, and please refer to my profile for an announcement-notification thingy.

Some of you mentioned that you were looking forward to see Gaara. Well, here he is! Nihihihi… ^^

U/L: 23rd September 2009.

* * *

**I Think I**

By _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 22 - Suna**

* * *

Sasuke was trying his best to tune out the chatter of the dobe's genin kunoichi as the Konoha delegation ran through the desert, heading towards Suna.

"…it's just so lucky that I found you at the bakery, sensei! Otherwise you wouldn't have bought that dress! What if your best friend wanted to take you on a date again? You can't possibly go on a date in your usual clothes! And that dress was so lovely! Even the salesclerk agreed. I'm so glad I got to help you pick out that dress. You need to work on your fashion style, sensei!"

Sasuke was trying his best to tune out the chatter of the dobe's genin kunoichi, but wasn't being very successful. Instead, he was getting more and more annoyed, especially now that it seemed the dobe had bought a _dress_ just in case the former jinchuuriki and current Kazekage was going to take her out on a _date_. His expression was so dark none of the other genin or jounin sensei in the Konoha delegation wanted to come near Team Seven and Sasuke. He was just thankful that today was the last day of the journey, and he wouldn't have to put up with the maddening girl talk anymore. He was broken out of his thoughts by a loud, happy shout.

"Gaara!"

He looked up to see the walls of Sunagakure's outer defense and the small knot of people waiting by the opening in the walls. The red hair and large gourd were a dead giveaway as to the identity of the person at the forefront of the group. From his side, a yellow blur shot forward and attached itself with such force to the Kazekage that he took a step backward. The genin kunoichi squealed, and Sasuke's mood soured even more. Unconsciously, he picked up his pace.

He got there in time to see the redhead return her hug, with a small smile. He stood some distance to the dobe's left and glowered darkly at the duo.

Eriko bounced up to her sensei's side, followed by Nichiro – who didn't bounce, obviously.

"Is he your best friend, Naruto-sensei?" she asked excitedly. "He's so handsome!"

Naruto coloured faintly as Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow at the girl's exuberance and the young Hyuuga's scowl.

"Eriko!" she chastened, and turned back to Gaara. "This is my Eriko, and that's Nichiro. The two of them and Nichiro's twin Ichiro are my team."

"Nice to meet you, Gaara-san!" Eriko piped up cheerfully, and Nichiro just bowed respectfully, although a little coldly.

One of the Suna nin standing behind Gaara attempted to correct Eriko, but a lazy voice drawled, "Mendokuse."

Temari stepped up to Gaara and gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Gaara."

"Temari." Gaara's voice had the warmth he usually reserved for only his siblings and Naruto. He nodded at Temari's husband, who nodded back. "Nara."

"Oi Naruto! What's the hurry, huh? Just jumping ahead like that!" came Kiba's brash voice, and Akamaru skidded to a stop next to Shikamaru. The other genin and jounin sensei were with him, and Ichiro walked to join his brother and teammate.

"Kazekage-sama," Kiba greeted with a short but polite bow, and the other genin and jounin sensei imitated him.

Beside Naruto, Eriko perked up and tugged at her sensei's vest. "Which one's the Kazekage, sensei?"

Naruto looked down at her with an incredulous face, then laughed loudly and elbowed Gaara playfully. "Hey Gaara, which one's the Kazekage, huh?"

Gaara's face was blank, but there was amusement in his eyes and a slight tilt to a corner of his mouth as he observed the blonde wipe the tears out of her eyes. Kiba gave a bark of laughter, Shikamaru rolled his eyes and Temari snickered. Eriko stared at Naruto perplexedly, obviously wondering what triggered her mirth. Ichiro looked away in embarrassment, and Nichiro whispered urgently to Eriko, "_Gaara-sama_ is the Kazekage, Eriko!"

The honey-haired girl's jaw hung loose and she stared alternately at her sensei and the Kazekage. "Your best friend is the Kazekage, sensei?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Naruto slung an arm across Gaara's shoulders and grinned. "Well, it's more like my best friend is Gaara, who so happens to be the Kazekage."

Gaara's expression softened almost imperceptibly at that, and smirked as Naruto gave him a playful punch and added in a mock-growl, "He may be the Kazekage, but I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

"Yeah, when cows fly, Uzumaki!" Kiba barked, and grinned at Naruto, who swatted his head.

"Then you better watch out for the one I'm gonna throw in your face, mutt!"

Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. "Mendokuse."

"As allies, Sunagakure no sato welcomes the shinobi of Konoha. I wish you all a pleasant stay and all the best in the chuunin selection exams," Gaara said in his usual monotone, and the ninja quieted down and turned to him. "Maeda," he continued, and one of the Suna nin stepped forward, "will lead you to your quarters. If there is anything you require or would like to know, you may speak to him."

The bulk of the Konoha nin followed Maeda as he started for the village. Naruto started after the group, but Gaara's hand on her shoulder made her stop. She turned to him inquiringly.

"Kujira-dono has requested that you and your husband stay with him for the duration of the exams. He expressed that he is looking forward to seeing you again," Gaara explained. He turned his expressionless face to Sasuke for the first time. "Uchiha-Uzumaki-san."

"Kazekage," Sasuke's voice and face were also blank, but his eyes were frosty. Naruto winced inwardly, wondering if Tsunade was right about Sasuke being jealous, or if it was just Naruto's own wishful thinking. After all, Sasuke was icy to everyone.

Gaara turned to face the open desert. "Your services are no longer needed, Konoha ANBU. Uchiha-Uzumaki Keimei is under my protection from here on. You are dismissed."

Two ANBU materialized abruptly in front of the Kazekage, bowed, and disappeared again. Gaara turned to Naruto. "Kujira-dono was rather surprised to learn of your marriage, Keimei, considering that you didn't mention it when you were here last. I had the impression that he was disappointed not to have known." He started walking, and Naruto winced, and followed him. She turned her head back a little to see if Sasuke was following. He was, with cold eyes. In a few long strides, he caught up and maintained a short distance on her other side.

"I… well, it was a sudden thing, as you know, Gaara. I didn't quite know what to think, and I was hoping that I wouldn't have to tell so many people. I didn't think that Kujira-sensei would find out."

The redhead nodded. "I understand, Keimei, and I'm sure Kujira-dono would, too."

Xx

Xx

"Kujira-sensei!" Naruto cried, and hugged the elderly man tightly. The man chuckled and patted the blonde on the head fondly.

"Gaki," he said, and Naruto pouted at him. Kujira turned to the Kazekage on her left and nodded respectfully. "Kazekage-sama."

"Kujira-dono," Gaara returned.

"I'm already eighteen, ojisan!" Naruto said sulkily.

The man chuckled again. "I know, Keimei. All grown up, and married, too, I hear."

Naruto's playful pout disappeared and she winced a little, and looked at the grey-haired man guiltily. "Ah, about that, Kujira-sensei… I'm sorry I didn't inform you earlier… it was really bad of me."

The sword master sighed. "Well, I'm sure you had your reasons, gaki. Well, introduce your husband to me, then!"

"Right!" Naruto nodded, and half-turned towards Sasuke, who was standing to the side. "That's him. Uchiha-Uzumaki Sasuke."

Sasuke just stared back with a blank face, and Naruto flushed a little with anger and embarrassment. She turned back to Kujira-sensei. "Forgive him, Kujira-sensei. He's probably a little tired, and he gets cranky easily…"

She could see that Kujira-sensei was a little affronted by Sasuke's rude behaviour, and sighed internally, feeling embarrassed and disappointed with Sasuke.

"I must take my leave. I will need to check up on the delegations from other Hidden Villages," Gaara interjected. "Good day, Kujira-dono, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. Keimei," he turned to Naruto, "I hope to be able to meet you for a meal sometime soon. I will probably be freer once the second part of the exam starts. I will keep you informed."

Naruto brightened considerably. "Of course, Gaara! Even a quick lunch would be fine. I haven't seen you in such a long time; I bet we have lots to talk about!"

Kujira noticed how the blonde's husband's expression darkened briefly at that.

Gaara nodded with a faint smile. "_You_ always have lots to talk about, Keimei."

"Hey!" Naruto sounded offended, and stuck her lower lip out. Kujira laughed.

"See you sometime soon, then, Keimei." Gaara leaned in and gave the blonde a hug, not noticing how Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that, and the corners of his lips turned downward. Naruto smiled sweetly at the redhead, returned the hug, and kissed him on his tattoo.

Sasuke felt something flare up and burn in his chest area, and his fists clenched hard. He couldn't deny it – he was jealous.

Without even glancing at the seething brunet, the Kazekage disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"Well, well! Let me take you to your room, Keimei!" Kujira said jovially, and steered Naruto into his house with his hand on her back. He turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-san, come along! Welcome to my home, you two!"

Kujira's house was typical of Suna, with the beige clay walls and round windows. It was large and double-storied. The older man led them up the steps to a moderately large room with one queen-sized bed against one wall, and wardrobe and vanity table against another wall. Under the windows in the wall to their right were a couple of comfy-looking chairs and a coffee table, and beside that was a traditional low desk and cushion.

Naruto's heart beat faster when she realized Kujira-sensei was probably expecting them to share the bed, like normal married couples did. She kept her eyes away from Sasuke, not wanting to see his reaction, although she probably knew his face would be as expressionless as ever.

"I hope this room is okay for the two of you," Kujira-sensei said. Naruto slapped on a cheerful grin and let her bag fall to the floor with a thump.

"Of course, Kujira-sensei! It's a really nice room!" she answered.

Kujira-sensei chuckled. "Good, good. Now, I'll give you some time to freshen up. Dinner will be served at seven. The dining room is just left of the stairs. If you need anything, I'll be in my study. You know where that is, don't you, Keimei?"

Naruto nodded and grinned.

Kujira ruffled her hair, and chuckled at her pout. "Your hair has grown longer since I saw you last, Keimei. I can still remember when you first came, and your hair was short like a boy's! Such a tomboy you were then."

"Eheh…" Naruto rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Alright then!" the man said, and stepped out of the room. "My second son and his family will be joining us for dinner. See you at seven!"

The Uchiha-Uzumaki couple stood in the room in awkward silence. Naruto fidgeted with the hem of her Konoha vest, and Sasuke walked over to one of the chairs and set his bag down without making a sound.

"Uhm," Naruto squeaked, and cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Um, I think I'll go take a shower first. Can't stand the sand in my hair and all." She knelt and pulled out some things from her bag, and fled from the room to the bathroom, where she locked the door and slumped face to the wall.

_What am I going to do?_ Naruto groaned mentally, squeezing her eyes shut. She had to share a _bed_ with Sasuke. It didn't help that he was pissed about something for whatever reason. He didn't show it, but Naruto could tell – Sasuke always grew icy and his expression turned really dark when he was really mad about something. She groaned again and massaged her temples tiredly.

Up to the day they had started the trip to Suna, they had been climbing into each other's beds since the first time Sasuke came to get her off the roof. Even when they had to camp overnight during the journey, they had quietly laid out their bedrolls next to each other without touching. But somehow having to openly, blatantly share a bed as if they were really husband and wife (which they were, Naruto's conscience happily reminded her), was different. Awkward and different. It was one thing to slip into the other's bed in the dark of night and be gone before the other woke up, but to consciously get into bed beside Sasuke while they were both wide awake, and to wake up in the same bed the next morning without another room to run to…

It was stupid, Naruto knew, but, _arrgghh!_

She really wanted to, but at the same time she couldn't allow herself to do that. She knew she was in love with Sasuke. She also knew that he didn't care one whit for her. And she knew very well that if she started to let herself get used to being near him, she would only be left with a painfully shattered heart when Sasuke dropped her like a hot kunai after killing Itachi.

It felt like something was slowly and painfully squeezing her heart.

Xx

Xx

The dobe was really taking her own sweet time in the bathroom, Sasuke noticed. Then he scowled as he sat in one of the chairs.

She had become all awkward and fidgety when she had seen that there was only one bed in the room. Sasuke sure as heck didn't mind. It was the perfect excuse for him to share a bed with the dobe, instead of having to feel a little guilty and humiliated every time he had to go to her room and slip into her bed.

Was she uncomfortable about having to share the bed with him? Did she hate having to share the bed with him?

But if she disliked sleeping beside him so much, she surely wouldn't have climbed into his bed on her own when they were in Konoha. So what was the matter with sharing a bed now? Sasuke's scowl deepened – he really didn't understand that dobe, most of the time.

And what was the deal with hugging and kissing the Kazekage? Sasuke let out a low growl at that memory, and his fists clenched again. Did best friends even do that? She used to go on about how he was her best friend all those years ago when they were genin and when they had come to try and get him from Orochimaru, but she'd never hugged or kissed him then. Of course, she had been in her male henge then, and it would have been really, _really_ awkward if she decided to get touchy-feely with him.

But that didn't mean that he would hate it if she did decide to start now. Heck, he sometimes felt weird urges to just touch her, or worse, to kiss her every now and then. He had realized that he had started to feel more relaxed in her presence; that he could just be Sasuke, and not the Last Uchiha, or the Massacre Survivor, or even the Avenger. He was starting to grow soft towards her. He closed his eyes and sighed softly.

His emotions were back, and it was all her fault. He had been fine as an emotionless brick until he had been forced to spend time with her. And now he liked being near her, liked having dinner with her, was growing soft towards her, and was starting to feel jealous when other men gave her extra attention. He was starting to grow feelings for her.

Sasuke wasn't stupid. He wasn't quite sure exactly what those feelings were, and he didn't want to analyze them further; he was afraid he might reach conclusions he didn't want to reach. But he wasn't stupid enough to deny what he had realized. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned deeply, trying to decide what to do now that he realized those things.

The door opened before he could think further, and the dobe stepped into the room wearing a t-shirt and a pair of long pants. She had a towel on her head, and her hair was wet.

Their gaze met for a second, and she actually flinched, then turned away, biting her lip. She put away the bundle of things she had in one hand, then turned to him with her usual cheerful expression, as if she hadn't flinched at the sight of him earlier.

"The bathroom's free now, Sasuke. I bet you want to wash up, so go ahead. We still have about fifteen minutes before dinner," she told him, and started drying her hair as she casually turned away from him.

The earlier frown disappeared from his face as his expression became blank. Silently, he gathered his things and left for the bathroom.

Xx

Xx

The dobe was already gone from the room by the time he came back. He hadn't quite expected her to be waiting for him anyways. He quickly dressed in his usual clothes, wanting to go and find the dobe before she disappeared with the Kazekage, or whoever else she'd kiss. He scowled for a moment, then rearranged his features to his usual blank expression and went downstairs.

On the way down the stairs, the sounds of the dobe's voice mixed with other voices floated up to him. He followed the voices until he came to the dining room. There was a large table in the middle, and a group of people were seated around it. There were two men, one of whom was the elderly man earlier. The other, seated to Kujira's right, was younger; in his thirties, and resembled the elderly man to a certain extent. This was probably the second son. Next to the son was a lady who was probably the wife. There were also three children – one baby in the lady's arms, and two kids about five and three years old who were climbing all over the dobe, who was seated to Kujira's left.

"… and then otousan made a really cool bokuto! One for me and one for otouto!" the older kid was excitedly describing something to the dobe with dramatic hand gestures, which the younger kid was trying to imitate.

The dobe was just as animated as the kids. "Really? That's so cool! You gotta show me! Then we can fight!"

Sasuke noticed Kujira was watching the blonde jounin with a fond look. He quietly made his way to the dobe's side and made to sit down, but the older kid pouted at him.

"I wanna sit with Keimei-neechan!" he was informed loudly. The younger kid added an agreeing noise. At that, the dobe looked up at Sasuke.

"Err, Mi-chan, Aki-chan, I promised to play with you tomorrow, so now we'll just eat dinner, okay?" she turned back to the kids with a grin. The older kid shook his head vehemently and the younger threw his stubby hands around the dobe's waist.

"No! I wanna sit with Keimei-neechan!"

"Mi-chan," the dobe tried to plead.

"Mi-chan," the kid's father looked over and called in a strict voice. "Aki-chan."

"No! I missed Keimei-neechan! Aki-chan missed Keimei-neechan too!" Mi-chan threw his arms around the dobe's neck and attached himself. The younger kid clung to the dobe like a burr.

"Eheh…" the dobe started sheepishly. "I missed you guys too, but we can play later, okay?"

Sasuke ignored the two and sat down next to the dobe. The younger kid started bawling. The dobe, Sasuke saw out of the corners of his eyes, looked distraught for a moment before her face brightened in a grin.

"I know!" she exclaimed, and her fingers flexed into some seals. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Another blonde appeared next to the original, and Kujira chuckled as his grandchildren stopped their tantrums to stare at the clone in awe.

"See! Now you both have one me each!" the bunshin said, grinning at the kids and ignoring the fact that she wasn't making much grammatical sense.

"Whoa…!" Mi-chan's eyes were bulging.

The dobe turned to Sasuke with a faintly pleading expression. "Could you please move down one seat, Sasuke?"

He turned his blank face to her and let her guess for a few seconds, inwardly enjoying how her expression became more and more pleading. Finally, without saying anything, he quietly got up and moved one seat to his left.

"Sankyuu, Sasuke!" the dobe grinned at him, and moved down one seat, too. The bunshin carefully pulled the human burr off the original dobe and carried him to Sasuke's left, where bunshin sat down and put the child down on the chair to its left. The older kid happily sat himself on the original dobe's right, where the dobe had originally been sitting.

Sasuke ended up sitting between two dobe, but he didn't mind. Not in the least.

* * *

**Glossary:** - Mendokuse: Troublesome. You said it, Shika! ;-)

Bokuto : Wooden sword.

**The Author has More to Say:** Enjoy the next chapter! I uploaded it at the same time as this one.

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


	23. Chapter 23 Suna Nights

**The Author Says:** This is the second chapter I've uploaded today. Read Chapter 22 if you haven't done so yet! ;-)

U/L: 23rd September 2009.

* * *

**I Think I**

By _TooDarnLazy_

**Chapter 23 - Suna Nights**

* * *

"Where have you been, Naruto-sensei?" Eriko pointed at the blonde jounin sensei when she materialized beside Team Seven.

"Yes, where have you been, sensei? We were starting to get worried," Nichiro added. Ichiro nodded. The three genin folded their arms and stared accusingly at Naruto.

She held up her hands in defense. "Whoa! I'm sorry! I honestly forgot to let you guys know," she said, "I'm staying with my former kenjutsu sensei."

"I assume your relative will be staying there as well? I did not see him in the Konoha quarters," Ichiro said, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, Sasuke's staying with me." _In the same room. In the same bed._

Naruto shook her head a little to get those thoughts out her head and grinned at her team. "So how're you all feeling?"

Eriko deflated a little. "A little nervous," she admitted, and scuffed her foot into the rather sandy floor of the large hall they were in. All the other chuunin hopefuls from all the participating hidden villages were gathered in the same hall, eyeing their competition. "I'm not very strong, and I don't have a kekkei genkai like Ichiro and Nichiro."

Naruto opened her mouth to talk, but before she could say anything, Ichiro cut in. "Nonsense. You are strong, and having a kekkei genkai does not guarantee power."

"Yeah. Just look at Naruto-sensei! She does not have a kekkei genkai, but she is strong! And we've been a team long enough for Ichiro and I to know that you are strong. We wouldn't want to take the chuunin exams with anyone else," Nichiro said heatedly.

The blonde closed her mouth and smiled as she saw how Eriko's face lit up.

"Thanks, guys," she said quietly. Ichiro nodded with a smile. "You're welcome, Eriko," Nichiro said.

"That's my team!" Naruto told them proudly. She sensed Gaara's chakra appearing in the hall, and looked to the front where there was a raised platform. A swirl of sand was quickly solidifying into a man's shape, and soon the Kazekage appeared. The hall grew silent, and Gaara's eyes roamed the crowds until he caught sight of the blonde. Naruto waved at him with a grin, and received a tiny nod in return.

The Kazekage welcomed the participants and their jounin sensei, informed them of some rules and regulations, and told the genin where to meet the next day, and at what time. Then he wished them good luck, and disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Naruto turned back to her team and grinned. "Right! All the best tomorrow!" she told them. "Just do your best and I'll be proud of you, whatever the outcome."

"Un!" Eriko nodded. Naruto gave them another grin and ruffled the boys' hair, then patted Eriko on the head fondly.

"Have a good night's rest, guys. I'll see you at the end of the second exam, and I'll take you all out for ramen!"

Ichiro smirked. "We'll hold you to that, Keimei-sensei."

Naruto grinned widely at them, bid them goodnight, and left the hall. As she entered the street to Kujira-sensei's house, she wasn't surprised to see Gaara waiting for her with his arms folded across his chest.

"Konbanwa, Gaara!" she greeted him with a smile.

"Konbanwa, Keimei," he replied, and fell in step beside her. "I trust Kujira-dono has provided ample accommodations for you and Uchiha-Uzumaki?"

Naruto sighed, and her shoulders slumped as she was reminded of the sleeping arrangements. "Well, yeah, but… the room has only one bed."

At her distressed tone, Gaara turned to her in concern. "Is that a problem, Keimei?"

Naruto rubbed the back of her neck as she hesitantly explained her dilemma to her best friend. Gaara, true to form, just nodded thoughtfully every now and then without interrupting.

"I'm not making much sense, am I?" the blonde sighed. Gaara shook his head.

"You are. It's just that it is not a situation I have been in, so I am rather at a lost as to how I should advise you."

Naruto sighed again as she stopped in front of the main gates to Kujira-sensei's house. Gaara looked at her. "Should I speak to Kujira-dono about this?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No! He doesn't know the real situation, and I don't want to have to explain it to him," she said, and sighed. "Don't worry, Gaara. I'll figure something out." She gave him a tired smile and waved goodbye. "Oyasuminasai."

"Oyasuminasai, Keimei."

Xx

Xx

Sasuke awoke in the middle of the night to find the space beside him empty. He frowned; he could feel her chakra – where was she, then? He got up and flung aside the curtains of one of the windows, and zeroed in on her chakra. By the dim light of the moon, he could see her huddled in one of the two chairs.

She cut a pathetic figure; all curled up with her feet on the chair and her head leaning sideways on her knees. She was frowning in her sleep, and shivering a little every now and then. Sasuke regarded her silently for a few moments, and then his hand strayed to her face. It hovered over her hair for a while before brushing her bangs out of her eyes. The dobe twitched but did not wake up. He let his fingers stay carded in her hair as he continued to stare at her.

Her hair was silky, he noted absently. He wanted her beside him. Heck, he knew he really wanted more than that – he wanted to hold her and feel her warm skin. He wanted those feelings of security and comfort that he got when she was beside him. He gritted his teeth and stared outside through the window. The moon was partially hidden behind some clouds.

What was it about the nighttime that made him lose the tight control he had over his emotions and his wants?

He felt so undecided. He had been constantly giving into his feelings now, instead of repressing them. Itachi would have scorned him for this. How would he be able to hate enough to kill that man?

The dobe shivered a little and Sasuke's attention turned back to her. He let his fingers run through her hair again, and made up his mind. As gently as possible, so as not to wake her, he carefully carried her in his arms to the bed and laid her down. Then he got into bed next to her and drew the blanket over them both.

He had left the curtain open, so he watched her in the pale moonlight. Her brows were a little furrowed, so he gave in to the desire to gently massage away the lines. He was so close he was practically spooning her side. His heart was racing as he let his fingers trace her jawline and the whisker marks on her cheek.

A thought suddenly struck him – maybe it wouldn't be too bad for her to be the mother of his children. Genetically speaking, she had admirable traits a shinobi should have that would be passed down to her next generation. He recalled the way she had dealt with the two kids during dinner, and the way she interacted with her genin team, and was pretty much certain that he wouldn't mind using her to resurrect his clan. A certain body part down south gave an interested twitch when he remembered that she had been wearing her usual t-shirt and boxers, and nothing else. He had had to force himself to keep his eyes on her face without letting his gaze drift downwards when he had been carrying her earlier, so that he wouldn't give in to the urge to see whether the cold desert night's effects could be seen through her t-shirt.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he let his fingers remain on her face. She was making him feel things he didn't want to feel; at least not until _that_ man was good and dead. It was slowly driving him mad – having to choose between fulfilling his duty to the clan and getting close to the dobe. The more time he spent with her, the more he thought of her and the less he thought of that man, although he trained every day to defeat him. Everything seemed to be contradicting everything else, and he wished he have both. But he knew that no matter what, his duty to avenge the clan came before everything else. That was the only way he would have it, and he couldn't and wouldn't allow anything to get in the way of killing Itachi.

Sasuke fell asleep with his hand still on the dobe's face.

Xx

Xx

Naruto woke up the next morning feeling more comfortable than she knew she should have been. With her eyes still closed and still feeling drowsy, she turned on her side and leaned into the nice, soft yet firm back of the chair she slept in last night.

Strange. The chair was warm, and there was something on her face that was warm, too. It didn't match what she remembered of the cold Suna nights. And there was that familiar scent, only it was stronger than what she remembered. Feeling a little alarmed, she opened her eyes and quickly jerked her head back in surprise as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

She had just had her head buried in Sasuke's chest. That warmth, that soft firmness, that scent – it was all Sasuke. Sasuke's _bare_ chest.

Red-faced and panicky, she got off the bed in a hurry, blindly grabbed her towel and literally ran to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and leaned heavily against it.

Had she crawled into bed with him in her sleep? _I practically rubbed my face in his chest!_ Naruto screeched mentally, and massaged her temples in confusion and embarrassment. _Aargh!_

She hoped Sasuke wouldn't realize what she had just done. It had felt nice – _really nice,_ her mind added, and a pleasant shiver ran up her spine – but she was sure Sasuke would hate her even more for it. Her heart ached at the thought. Feeling mentally tired, she went through her morning routine quickly and went back to their room to change.

Sasuke was awake, and was calmly taking his towel and clothes. He didn't look at her as she came in. _A good sign!_ she thought, feeling a little relieved. _Now, act normal!_

"Ohayou, Sasuke," she greeted him cheerfully, and plopped down in the chair she had slept in last night. She held her towel to her chest in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner but was really to cover herself, since she had forgotten to take a change of clothes with her earlier and was now not wearing a bra. She saw his eyes flicker towards her for a second before returning to what he was doing.

"Hn," was his only audible response, and he walked out of the room.

Naruto went limp and let out a relieved sigh. He probably had still been asleep when she buried her face in his chest. _Phew!_

She quickly changed and went down to the dining room, where she bumped into Kujira-sensei, who was just leaving.

"Ohayou, Kujira-sensei!"

The elderly man turned to her with a smile. "Ohayou, gaki. What are your plans for today, and for the rest of your stay here?" he asked.

Naruto grinned at him. "I was hoping I could train with you! If you are free, that is."

The man chuckled pleasantly, seemingly pleased that Naruto wanted to train with him. "I'm sure I could spare you a few hours to train. Have you been using Sasayaki much?"

A sheepish expression crossed the blonde's face. "Not really," she admitted in an ashamed tone, and rubbed the back of her head in a familiar gesture. "I didn't really get much chance to use it, coz I've been training my team. I use it once in a while when I spar with Sasuke…" _And_ _I can remember using it only once or twice against him,_ she thought, and repressed a wince.

Kujira-sensei frowned at her. "The only way you'll improve at kenjutsu is if you train, Keimei."

"I know," she muttered, and rubbed one foot against the other. "The genin really did take up practically all of my time."

Kujira-sensei made a noise in his throat. "Well. Let's just hope those months of idling hasn't made you rusty. I noticed your husband carries a chokuto. Have him join us during training if he's free."

"Sure, sensei. I'll show you I can kick his ass!" she replied with a big grin. Kujira-sensei reached out and ruffled her hair.

"I hope you're not all talk, gaki. I'll see you later."

An hour later, Naruto was gripping Sasayaki tightly as she tried to read Kujira-sensei's movements. The man may be past his prime, but he certainly wasn't one to be taken lightly. A faint, familiar chakra presence registered on her senses, but she ignored it, and feinted right before ducking down and delivering a low slash at Kujira-sensei's calves. The skin at the back of her neck prickled, and instantly, she spun on her foot with her katana raised to block the downswing of Sasuke's Kusanagi.

A faint smirk tugged at his lips, she noticed. Behind her, Kujira-sensei chuckled. "A free-for-all, eh? Let's see what you've got, Sasuke-san!"

The three of them whirled and twisted around each other, parrying offensive thrusts and slicing whenever the opportunity made itself clear. Naruto was enjoying herself as they moved like dancers in a furiously fast routine. The concentration and energy needed was helping her forget her heartaches and emotional confusion, and an almost feral grin stretched her lips as adrenaline flowed through her veins, making her feel more alive than when she trained with her genin. She could tell Kujira-sensei was getting tired quickly, but he was also grinning. Sasuke seemed to be enjoying himself too. She could see past his expressionless face to the gleam in his eye and the enthusiasm in his movements to know that he wasn't holding back.

"Keimei-neechan!" a little voice squealed, and Naruto ducked under the swing of Kujira-sensei's katana and twisted out of the range of Sasuke's blade to turn to the owner of the voice. Kujira-sensei's grandson, Mi-chan, waved at her enthusiastically from the open dojo door. He ran to her and jumped, fully expecting her to catch him. Naruto grinned and caught him with her left arm, carefully keeping her blade away.

"I'm back from school!" he informed her, and she nodded. "And it's lunch time! Let's go for lunch! I wanna sit with Keimei-neechan again!"

Naruto laughed a little. "It's a bit early for lunch, Mi-chan. And your ojiisan and I are in the middle of training."

The boy pouted. "But I'm hungry! Let's eat now so that I can fight Keimei-neechan later!"

Naruto gave him a lopsided smile and turned to her sparring partners. Sasuke looked faintly irritated, she noticed. Kujira-sensei, however, sheathed his katana.

"Let's get you washed up, Mi-chan. I've a feeling your mother doesn't know you're home yet." Kujira-sensei strode to his grandson and took him away from Naruto's side, where he was clinging. "You two go ahead," he said over his shoulder as he left the dojo. "Lunch is in an hour's time."

Naruto waved at the pouting boy, then swiftly raised her katana to block Sasuke's blade aimed for her throat. Though his face was blank, his eyes glinted. She narrowed her eyes at him, then grinned suddenly as she disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Sasuke felt the cold metal of her blade against his throat. Without removing her blade, she slowly walked around to face him and grinned at him challengingly. He narrowed his eyes at her, then smirked. Naruto jumped back in disgust as his form dissolved into a couple of large, entwined snakes.

They continued sparring for almost an hour, using jutsu that would not destroy the dojo. It was more difficult for Naruto, since most of her jutsu were destructive on a large scale. Finally, she panted a little as she sheathed Sasayaki.

"Yoshi!" she exclaimed, relishing the workout her muscles had received. She pointed at Sasuke, who calmly sheathed his chokuto. She was pleased to notice he was also breathing a little heavily, although she was annoyed that he hadn't used his Sharingan. "The next time we spar, we're gonna do it in a wide open area where I can kick your ass without having to worry about Kujira-sensei kicking _my_ ass for damaging his property."

Sasuke strode past her. His shoulder brushed hers a little, and she tensed. But he merely walked to the door, where he looked over his shoulder, smirked an infuriatingly smug smirk, and left.

Naruto growled angrily at the obvious 'in your dreams' gesture before her features softened. He had acted more like the Sasuke she remembered years ago today than he ever had in the past months. Her lips curled into a small, fond smile. Maybe that Sasuke wasn't lost for good just yet.

Xx

Xx

The next day, she woke up with her right arm and right leg curled around Sasuke's torso and leg, respectively, and Sasuke's arm was draped over her shoulder. And her face was buried in his chest again.

Her heart pounded as she hurriedly moved her hand and leg away, then carefully lifted Sasuke's arm as she slipped out of bed, so as not to wake him. Like the morning before, she quickly grabbed her towel and fled to the bathroom, where she sagged to the floor and tugged at her hair disconsolately.

How did she end up in bed again? She was very, very sure that she had gone to sleep in the same chair she was supposed to have occupied the night before. Had she really somehow sleep-crawled into bed with Sasuke? It seemed the only plausible reason, since she couldn't conceive of Sasuke carrying her to bed. Her face flushed at the thought.

The memory of having her arm and leg around him and his arm around her made her feel warm inside, and she closed her eyes and relived the memory. Her skin tingled where his arm had been, and as she inhaled, she imagined she could still smell his scent. Her heart ached. He would be pissed if he found out she was hugging him in her sleep. She loved being with him in bed. She loved the feel of his warm body next to hers, especially when the morning still held traces of Suna's cold nights. But the knowledge that the comfort she felt was artificial hurt. Sasuke would never even think of putting an arm around her. She may love him, but he didn't even like her. She couldn't guess what drove him to continue hopping into her bed and allowing her into his bed when they had been in Konoha, but she knew whatever motivated him certainly couldn't be affection for her.

Her heart felt heavy at the thought.

Xx

Xx

Sasuke scowled at the dobe from where he sat up in bed.

Sparring with her and the old man, then sparring with her alone had been good. The old man was obviously a kenjutsu master, and Sasuke had learned a few things from their spars. He enjoyed sparring with the dobe, too. They were more or less equals in terms of strength, and the dobe's unpredictability kept him on his feet and his mind sharp. It was a challenge to face her, one that he enjoyed. Of course, watching the way she moved was an added bonus.

He flung the blanket aside in irritation. This was the third night he had to carry her from that blasted chair into bed. Didn't she get it yet? He knew she wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but surely waking up in bed when she had gone to sleep in the chair would obviously tell her something? Or did she think she sleepwalked to bed?

He got to his feet, ignoring the cold that seeped in from the floors to his soles. He stood in front of her and exhaled heavily, and bent to pick her up. He put her in her usual spot in bed, then climbed in and pulled the blanket over the both of them, and this time, he pulled her closer to him and kept his arm firmly around her waist. It was more than he had ever touched her before, he knew. Feeling her against him sent a jolt of pleasure up his spine and down south, and he gave in to the temptation to nuzzle her cheek and neck. He closed his eyes.

If this wasn't obvious enough that he didn't mind her willingly sleeping in the same bed, he felt he had better reconsider her as the mother of his children. Stupidity was probably hereditary.

Xx

Xx

Naruto woke up feeling more comfortable than she had been the past few weeks. Kujira-sensei and Sasuke had put up a good fight yesterday, and she had gone to sleep pleasantly tired and worn out. She breathed in deeply and snuggled closer to the warm body she was hugging, and felt a pair of arms tighten around her back.

She blinked a few times before starting to panic. _Not again!_ How had she ended up in bed with her arms around Sasuke again? Last night she had been very tired, so she was pretty sure she hadn't sleepwalked to bed, but was it possible that Sasuke carried her to the bed?

Slowly, cautiously, she opened her eyes, and found herself staring into his black eyes. Startled, she reflexively jerked back and started to pull away, but Sasuke tightened his arms around her and pulled her flush against him. Her ears grew warm and her heart started racing as she stared into his unblinking eyes that were unmistakably staring back into her own. The sensation of his breath on her face gave her tingles. She could feel the warmth and the contours of his body against her own skin through the thin material of her t-shirt and boxers. She knew her nipples were contracting, and her cheeks tinged pink when she realized he would probably feel it through her t-shirt as well, since he slept topless. She averted her eyes in embarrassment. Not quite sure where to put her face, she instinctively buried it in his neck, and felt him rest his cheek against her head.

Her heart was beating so fast and hard that she was pretty sure he could feel it against his own chest. She felt exhilarated and excited and warm and incredibly happy at the same time – Sasuke had carried her to bed, and Sasuke hadn't kicked her off for hugging him, and best of all, Sasuke had his arms tight around her! She couldn't stop a silly smile from forming on her face, and pushed her head deeper into the space between his shoulders and neck.

She felt so content, just lying there quietly in his arms, feeling his warmth and hearing his heartbeat and inhaling his scent. The fact that she loved him made it all the more wonderful, because it seemed that he was actually beginning to thaw.

_Be reasonable,_ she told herself. He had never cared, he always had an ulterior motive for doing something, and killing Itachi was all that mattered to him. As much as she wanted to believe that he could very well be starting to fall in love with her, she had to stay realistic. This was Sasuke she was dealing with.

But even all that logic couldn't stop her heart from almost bursting with love and hope.

* * *

**Glossary:** - Kenjutsu : Swordplay, to put it simply.

Kekkei genkai : Bloodline limit. The special physical enhancements conferred genetically, for instance – Sharingan, Byakugan, etc.

Oyasuminasai : Good night

Ohayou : Good morning. The full phrase is actually ohayou gozaimasu.

Ojiisan : Grandfather. Not to be confused with ojisan, which means uncle. Ojisan is also used to address men of the generation above the speaker.

**The Author has More to Say:** Nihihihi! Hope you guys liked that. I cannot promise when the next update will be. In fact, I remember warning in the first chapter that I'm a sporadic updater. Not so much by choice, though. Don't forget to look up my profile for a notification!

Also, Shameless Self-Plugging! Read my new oneshot fic, _**Of Balls and Brides**_! XD

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!


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